


Tooth and Nail

by Rummy_Dragon



Category: Far Cry 5
Genre: Blow Jobs, Erections, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fantasizing, Frustration, Grinding, Hair-pulling, Jealousy, Masturbation, Oral Sex, Pain, Vaginal Sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-20
Updated: 2019-06-27
Packaged: 2020-01-20 19:06:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 30
Words: 49,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18531268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rummy_Dragon/pseuds/Rummy_Dragon
Summary: The artwork shown to represent Jade Thomas is by the talented Goldenwolf on DA, definitely check out her artwork. Jade's tail is only about 1.5' long though.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The artwork shown to represent Jade Thomas is by the talented Goldenwolf on DA, definitely check out her artwork. Jade's tail is only about 1.5' long though.

[ ](https://s347.photobucket.com/user/Rummy_Dragon/media/Deputy%20Jade%20Thomas/57503504_804198959952860_8261241011125092352_n_zpsiifkllx7.jpg.html)

Montana, big sky country, a treasure state. Jade Thomas had called it home her entire life, traversing the majority of the state. Lately though she had been drifting the border between Montana and Wyoming, her only sense of time was based on the seasons.

Jade quietly peeked her emerald coloured eyes over the top of the brush cover she was crouching behind, she had been lazily tracking this herd of deer for the afternoon. The herd had bedded down in an open part of the forest, catching some warm sunshine before the cool March evening set in. Jade pulled an arrow from her quiver, aimed, and struck a large buck right through the heart- a nearly instant kill. Her prize was hefty and it would fuel her travels over the next few days. Jade slung her bow around her shoulder and reclaimed her arrow from her kill, she took off her backpack and knelt beside the buck for a brief moment before sinking a large bite into it's neck, savoring the warmth that the fresh body still held. She hadnt eaten more than the odd rabbit over the past week. Her powerful jaws made quick work of the thick hide and tearing off pieces of lean muscle. As she ate she caught a whiff of something on the air, the smell was unlike anything she'd ever smelled before- sickly floral but slightly chemical, it made her scrunch up her muzzle and shake her head instinctively trying to rid her airway of the odor that now took over her senses. 'What the ever loving fuck is that!?' she thought as she nearly gagged. Jade scarfed as much of the deer down as she could before she had to find out what that smell was. Tightening the straps on her backpack, putting the cap over her quiver, and slinging her bow securely over her chest, she set off at a slower pace trying not to disturb the contents of her engorged stomach.

Feeling bloated now from overeating, Jade groaned as she stalked up a hill following the ever stronger smell wafting in. At the top of the hill she crouched in the treeline, there was a large outcrop of forest with rows and rows of gardens. 'There's has to be like 50 rows! Someone had obviously put alot of time into this... and it's not even weed!' she awed at the thought. Planted in neat rows were what looked to be simple white flowers- though these plants seems to let off some kind of fog, this was definitely were the smell was coming from. A small cabin caught her eye along the side of the clearing, it didnt seem anyone was around, so Jade crept along the tree line towards the building. She listened intently for any sign of life in the cabin. nothing. She stood upright to peer into one of the barred windows, the cabin was dimply let by the last rays of the now setting sun. The building looked to have been gutted- totally torn apart like a hurricane had gone through it- all expect one desk. The desk was topped with all kinds of chemistry equipment a few burners, scattered papers and the same flowers as the ones growing outside.. Her eye drifted and caught sight of large messy letters on the farthest wall 'SINNER'. She stared blankly trying to find meaning in the script on the wall when distant headlights lit up the inside of the cabin from the opposite window. Jade let out a gasp when she noticed the letters were red, thick, with drip marks- looking like they had been smeared onto the wall. 'What kind of operation is this?!' she swallowed hard, she didnt need her past career as a cop to tell her that the letters were blood. Jade swiftly slipped off her pack and dug into one of the pockets for some matches, with matchbook inhand she tore off a few and struck them against the side of the cabin. WOOSH the matches went up right away and she tossed them through the bars of the window, watching them as they landed on messy trail of papers. Jade wasnt finished though, she peeked around the side of the cabin to see the approaching vehicle was still on the other side of the locked gate that blocked the dirt road into the clearing. She walked carefully into the center of the field of flowers and struck another bunch of matches before flicking them carelessly into the plants before she made a run for the safety of the treeline. Jade crouched silently in the bushes before she heard the approach of the truck and the screeching of tires in dirt followed by panicked screams of 2 men.

"The plants!!" they screamed as they scrambled to find hoses in the dark.

The men hadn't noticed that the cabin was on fire before it exploded in a burst of flames and splinters.  
"The research!!! Oh man! Faith is going to kill us!"

"Who's out there! We'll find you and make you pay!" one of them hollered out into the night waving a pistol.

Jade squinted and covered her head as she shielded herself from potential debris from the explosion 'apparently whatever they were doing in there was not so fire friendly' she snorted as she slipped her pack back on. She turned and began to descend the hill 'I wonder who this Faith person is? They seemed pretty bent out of shape about some flowers burning.. I believe old Hope County is not too far from here, maybe I can find out some information there'.

A few hours later Jade stopped to rest for the night after she felt she was far enough away from the danger of her earlier crime of arson. She found a large uprooted tree trunk still half in the ground, it would be a relatively safe place for her. Finding sleep was never an issue for Jade, she was often exhausted after a long day of travel. She shrugged off her bow, quiver and her backpack, and tucked them towards the back of the hollow area. Taking in a deep breath she could still faintly smell the sickly sweet aroma of the flowers, but too tired to really care. She lazily roughed up some of the soil under foot and curled up so her tail was over her nose, enjoying the smell of her fur and the upturned earth around her she drifted off to sleep.

Jade was standing in the middle of a darkly lit church facing towards the front, there were some holes in the roof allowing for the bright moon light to creep in, seemingly alone as she looked around quickly for anyone. She squinted barely making out a dim figure of someone at the very front. She gasped and quickly looked down toward her arms and reaching up to feel at her chest- she was clothed, and human. With a sigh of relief she again looked forward towards the figure standing ahead of her.

"Something is coming. You can feel it, can't you? That we are creeping towards the edge..." the figure spoke, a stern male voice. You could tell now that he had his back to you, and he was speaking with his back to her.

"That's kind of vague?" Jade responded slightly annoyed.

"I did not ask for this..." the figure replied as he turned to face her while taking a few steps toward her, moonlight adding features to his previously dim form. He is tall, clothed in a white dress shirt, little vest with yellow sunglasses tucked into the chest pocket, and tight black pants adorned with a large belt buckle. He is bearded, his hair pulled back, and finally she is met with piercing blue eyes.

"I.. I should go" Jade stuttered as she began to back away. His gaze never faltering as he continued forward until his hands were on either side of her face.

"I was chosen.." he says lightly as he presses his forehead gently to her own.

Suddenly the world around her is on fire, everything. But there he is, standing before her now, wearing his yellow glasses.  
"See, everything is coming to an end. You can feel that. I know you can...See, mankind is weak... and vulnerable. And we are hurtling towards our destruction and no one is willing to do anything about it. I can see that. You can see. We are not crazy. So what are we supposed to do? We just sit back and await the inevitable? I don't claim to be a perfect man, but I saw what was coming and I chose to act. To lead. Because society is broken and the only way forward is to go back to the way things once were. Innocent and pure. So safe and protected... in our Garden. I can save you."

"Save me? I'm pretty sure I can look out for myself" Jade juts in, crossing her arms.  
He kneels down in front of her to an untouched patch of the white flowers, and picks one before handing it to her. Locking eyes with her again.  
"But you have to have faith."


	2. Chapter 2

Jade's eyes flew open, breathing heavily, nearly knocking herself out on an exposed root above her head 'fuck!'. She sat for a moment just staring forward at the root wall, running over in her mind the dream she had, over and over.

Sighing nervously she ran a pawed hand over her forehead where the man had touched his head to hers in her dream moments ago, she felt a slight buzz- almost like an electric currant. She squinted.

'I've never seen or heard anyone like him' she pondered. 'Maybe that deer I ate got into some of whatever those people were doing at that cabin...'

'Ah fuck, I better find a town and some medicine...and maybe a bottle of whiskey.' Jade huffed as she gathered her things and slung them onto her body for another days trek.

She had no map or points of reference other than her sense of smell to guide her. After about 5 hours of heading steadily northwest into Montana she started to come across solitary farm buildings here and there along with the smell of livestock. Jade stopped at the last 30 feet of forest, up ahead was the first bit of asphalt road she'd seen in months, 'man alive, what am I doing? I haven't been around people in years..." Sighing. "What if they have wolf radar now??" she mused as she stripped off her gear again setting it gently to the ground against a big tree.   
With a lurch forward she fell to her knees, her russet coloured fur retreating like the night in the wake of the dawn. Her calloused paw pads dissolving into smooth flesh. With another lurch throwing her onto all fours, her skeleton began to contort into her slender 5'2 human form. Finally her face began to change, her ears pulled in and shrank down- but the tips remained slightly pointed. Her muzzle recedes into a cute button nose and her fangs retract into a mischievous but far less toothy smile.   
All in under 2 minutes. It always amazed her how quickly and painlessly she was able to phase now, it wasn't always like that. It used to take hours of screaming agony to phase.. She shuddered at the thought.  
Jade was left bare as the day she was born, almost. Pale skin over a lean form. Her hair was short and wild and remained the colour of her fur, a stark contrast to her green eyes. There was an ever present feature she could never rid herself of though- the tail, also russet with a darker brown tip and underside. 'Fucking shit, you're still here aren't you?!' she cursed as she turned to look back at it as she gave it a lazy wag. Stepping lightly over the forest debris towards her backpack she stepped down on atleast 6 pinecones, nearly screamed each time and stubbed her toe on a fallen tree limb. 'ohhhohhhohhhhhoooo my godddddd, not even 3 minutes human and I'm dyinggggg!' she whined as she hastily unzipped her pack. She unrolled a wrinkly tshirt that read 'trouble maker', bra, underwear, hat, 2 belts, socks, hiking boots and lastly and pair of grotesquely oversized camo cargo pants. She dressed herself clumsily, nearly falling over a number of times. Jade belted down her tail against her left thigh, strapped on her bowie knife, gathered up her shit (bow, quiver, backpack) and set off out of the tree line toward the population ahead.

  
Jade had only been walking along to road side for about 2 miles before the weather began to change from overcast to drizzling rain before she came upon a sign 'Welcome to HOPE COUNTY, home of the Hope County Cougars'.   
"Home sweet home" she said to herself. Her memories of this quiet ass crack of a town were alright. She was born to a loving family, went to school, dated boys, even worked here as a deputy before her life changed suddenly 7 years ago and she had to move.

Another mile passed and the light rain hadn't let up and the clouds were only looking darker ahead. Jade was more than used to any type of weather from living in the bush, but her humany form left her more vulnerable. She hissed when she heard the sound of a vehicle behind her 'please pass, please pass..' she prayed but it was no use, she heard the unmistakable sound of tires pulling onto the gravel shoulder behind her. She slowed and turned her head to look behind her. It was a white truck. Jade stopped and turned around slowly waiting for some kind of motion from the driver.

The driver side door popped open and out leaned an older man with glasses, wearing a cowboy had and rocking a bushy blonde handlebar mustache.

"Hey kid, you're a fair bit aways from town and the weather isnt looking any nicer up ahead. Would you like a ride?"  
"Oh uh hey, sure, you going to Fall's End?" Jade replied. Stranger danger warnings from her childhood came racing back as she smiled and walked towards the passenger side door of the truck... 'Pretty sure that doesnt apply to me much any more' she thought jokingly as she opened the backseat door to throw her stuff in.

"Sure am, there's a beer calling my name"

Jade climbed in, closed the door and as she buckled her seatbelt the clouds opened up and it began to pour.

"Whoa, good timing!" the older man laughed "The name is Earl, I'm the local sheriff" he said holding out a hand for her to shake.

"Sheriff Whitehorse!?" Jade lit up and grabbed his outstreched hand, shaking it.

"Rook...?" He looked open eyed, his face lighting up with recognition. "Holy shit kid! I'd recognize those eyes anywhere. We thought you were gone for good after your dad died. You didnt leave a note or anything when you left, we searched for you for ages, even contacted the surrounding counties to keep an eye out for you."

Jade looked down at her hand still held firmly in Earl's.

"Really...? It was a selfish thing for me to have done, I'm sorry for making you all worry" she tried to hold back the onslaught of emotions she felt, but failed.   
Jade teared up as she remembered the kinship of her fellow officers and friends. She knew why she had to leave all those years ago, being a new and inexperienced creature of peoples nightmares would surely not go unnoticed. She felt dangerous, and she was. But she had control now.

Earl noticed her tear up and simply reached over and patted her shoulder "I'm sure you had to do, what you had to do". He started up the truck and pulled onto the road towards Fall's End.


	3. Chapter 3

The ride to Fall's End was relatively quiet, Earl seemed to sense Jade needed time to adjust to being back. As they pulled into town and parked beside the Spread Eagle bar Earl cut the engine "Can I buy you a beer?"

"You know Earl, I could really use one"

They smiled at one another before hopping out of the truck and making a mad dash through the rain to the covered area at the entrance. It felt strange to feel rain on her human skin again.

Once inside Earl grabbed a table and Jade sat across from him.

"Hey there Sheriff, won us any more of our stuff back from those damn Peggies?" a blonde lady said as she meandered over to the table were they sat.

"Afraid not Mary May, we seem to have come to a grinding halt on our progress with them.."  
Jade listened carefully 'what on god's earth is a peggy?' she wondered, before looking up at Mary May who had just noticed her.

"Oh my word!" Mary May gasped loudly "Rook! You're back!" She put a hand on Jade's shoulder an squeezed excitedly.  
"I found her walking down the side of the road heading to Fall's End".  
Jade paused enjoying seeing the happiness in her eyes..."Mary May, you haven't changed at all. It's great seeing you again, I hope you're well- and please... call me Jade, I haven't been a rookie cop in years." she smiled and put a hand over Mary May's.

"Well aren't you sweet, but you'll always be 'Rook' to most of the people in the county. As for us, we're surviving here- not that those cultist fucks are making it any easier, but you know, people need their booze".

Earl shot Mary May a look before stretching "Now now Mary May, don't overwhelm the kid, she hasn't even been back 20 minutes"

"You're right, I'm sorry Rook. I'll get you guys some beer? It's on the house." with that, Mary May returned to behind the bar.

Jade looked over to Whitehorse with a raised eyebrow "What the hell is a peggy? and cult?"

Earl let out a tired sigh and took off his glasses and set them on the table. "hmmm picked up on that did you?"  
"I was a cop"  
He laughed briefly

Mary May returned with 2 pints of beer, set them down and opened her mouth to talk but was called away to help other patrons that had walked in and sat down at the bar.  
"Well kid, they're one and the same. About 4 years ago a family by the name of Seed moved to Hope County and started buying up farms, radio stations, even some cops, whatever they could get their hands on. Their leader, Joseph, started preaching religious end of days bullshit, claiming to want to save everyone from something he calls the 'Collapse', they gained some followers, began looting and built massive in/under ground fall out bunkers. They call it The Project at Eden Gate, we just call them cultists Peggies for short. But then people started to go missing..."

"Missing?" Jude took a chug of her beer, it was incredible, she never knew how much she missed it until now.

"That's not the worst of it, not only are they taking people from their homes, but they are also torturing them into submitting to join or drugging them out of their gourds and using them as slaves.. Jacob the oldest of the family resides north in the Whitetails, if people don't pass his training he kills them and strings up the bodies around the county to remind people that the weak get culled".  
"What the fuck Earl? You guys haven't been able snuff that crap out?"  
"Easier said than done kid, they are a powerful group. The Seed family is cunning and determined to 'save' as many people as they can, with specially trained soldiers and animals, heavy duty weapons, mind altering drugs they created and tons of people at their disposal now".

"Holy fuck, sounds like it has really gotten out of control".

"It sure has, we could really use a hand if you were planning on sticking around. I still have your old badge".  
"I don't know Earl, I came here because I needed some supplies and I had some questions. I sure am fired about about this whole thing though".

"Well can I help you by atleast trying to answer some of your questions?".  
"Yeah actually" another swig of beer "I was out in the bush hunting south east of here, and I came across a huge outcrop in the forest- some people had set up some sort of plant operation. I've never seen a plant like it actually it-"  
"Were they vines with white flowers"

"How'd you know?"  
"We've been dealing with that shit for years, that's the plant the Peggies use to make that drug I was telling you about. They call it Bliss".

"Well I don't feel bad about what I did to it then..."

Earl raised an eyebrow before laughing and taking a large drink of his beer "fighting for us, and you didn't even know it. I'm proud of you Rook."  
"Apparently! There was something else though. A cabin was along the side of the outcrop, the windows were barred, I peered in and it was totally destroyed inside and smeared on the far wall was the word 'SINNER' looked to have been done with.. blood."  
"Shit Rook. That's the cult for sure. When they take people from their homes or kill people who get in their way they often leave behind a mark like that."  
"Fuck!"

"They must really be expanding if they have operations that far out now, Faith is NOT going to be happy when she gets news about what you did to her precious flowers".

"Faith? Holy shit Earl, the Peggies that pulled up to the arson I committed were freaking out about how angry someone named Faith was going to be..."

"Those men were probably tortured or turned into angels. Angels are people deemed unsavable who have lost their mind from being exposed to too much bliss, Faith is especially unkind to them... How'd you manage to take out so much of the bliss without becoming an angel yourself?"  
"I'm not sure, I didn't feel anything. It sure smelled bad though".   
"Nothing? Kid you got lucky, a bouquet of those flowers would drop anybody" Earl said with a confused look.  
"You said a family by the name of Seed moved here? How many are there?".  
"There are 4 of them. Joseph is the leader. Jacob controls the Whitetails. John controls Holland Valley, and finally Faith, an adopted sister- she controls the Henbane."

"That's all of Hope County Earl!"  
"I wasn't lying when I said it was bad. We have a few places here and there but mostly the Seed's have us walking on eggshells. I have a Federal Marshal coming out tomorrow with a warrant to arrest Joseph- hopefully that will show those Peggies we mean business".

"Tomorrow?"  
"Yes, you remember deputy Pratt and Hudson right? They are coming aswell, are you wanting to accompany us?"

"Sounds like you already have a full roster".

"We could always use fresh eyes Rook, if you change your mind your badge will be waiting for you. We are planning to leave the jail around 7 pm".  
"Thanks Earl, I'll think about it.. I should find somewhere to stay for the night though, been a long day".  
"You should check with Mary May, I know she used to rent out a room over the bar".  
"Not a bad idea, thanks. And hey, it's great seeing you". Jade smiled and walked toward the bar.

"Hey Mary May?"  
"Yeah?"  
"Earl says you have an extra room over the bar, you got anybody staying in it?"  
"No actually, are you interested?"  
"I am, until I can atleast find somewhere more permanent"  
"Having a cop over the bar sounds like the perfect set up! There should be clean linens in the closet up there, just take the stairs and it should be unlocked- the key is inside a drawer by the bed."  
"Thanks"  
With a wave to Whitehorse Jade headed toward the stairs and up to the room. The door was indeed unlocked, the room was dark and smelled dusty. Finally finding the light, she walked in, and locked the door behind her. The space looked to just be one big room though it did have a desk, minifridge, dresser, bedside table with lamp and a single bed up against the wall. Jade approached a door she assumed was a closet to find a small bathroom, sink, mirror and toilet.

"Not too bad, I haven't slept in a room in years!" she said taking off her knife and setting it on the dresser. She flopped onto the bed and fell instantly asleep not bothering to change or go under the blankets.

Jade stood in charred soil, her thick pawpads still feeling the heat of the extinguished fire. She looked out and saw that the entire landscape was in this state, the smell of burned bliss plants polluted the air around her. Her ear flicked back when she heard movement behind her.  
"Sinner!"  
"For the Father!"  
There were suddenly people all around her. She didn't even panic that she was spotted by humans in her wolf form. She simply closed her eyes peacefully. Snapping them open again to see a man swinging a metal bat at her. She grabbed him by the throat before he could make contact, locking eyes with him before pulling his throat out in one swift motion. Blood sprayed everywhere as he fell forward gurgling.

It wasn't long after that that 2 more men appeared, each with some type of weapon. Jade didn't hesitate to lunge forward tackling one of them to the ground breaking his neck, while the last one jumped on her back and tried to strangle her with the pipe he wielded. Jade reached up to her neck and grabbed the pipe, pulling the man off her, and proceeded to bite down on his head. Her jaws fit comfortably around the mans skull, she sunk her canines in, feeling his skull break under the pressure as he wailed beneath her.

Jade stood up, tasting the blood in her mouth. She panted from the exertion and looked down at her now blood stained fur. 'What? you guys couldn't take out a 6'7 wolf monster? bitches'.

"You are so special, I will save you..." a familiar mans voice filled her head.

"Does it look like I need saving!?! Come out!!" Jade demanded


	4. Chapter 4

Jade was startled awake by gunfire outside, gasping for breath as she sprang out of bed, reaching for her bow- and realizing her forgetful ass had left it in the Sheriff truck yesterday.  
'no no no no no noooo' she panicked as she crouched along the wall staying clear of the windows as she made her way to the door.

Once out the door she cautiously stepped down the stairs, Mary May was standing by the front door of the bar holding a shot gun. She saw Jade and held up a finger to her mouth signalling her to stay quiet.

Jade froze.

A man burst through the door and Mary May bashed him in the face with the butt of her shotgun, sending him stumbling backwards holding his nose.

"You'll pay for that sinner!" he reached to his fallen pistol and raised it to Mary May, about to pull the trigger before he was struck in the head by a flying beer bottle. Now unconscious the man lay in the doorway as Mary May gasped loudly looking over to find where the bottle had come from. Jade was standing behind the bar smiling.

"Rook! Great aim!"  
"Good morning to you Mary May"  
Mary May rolled her eyes and walked towards the bar. "Morning? It's almost dinner! You must have really needed the rest!".  
"I guess so. Been a long time since I've been able to recharge. What's the best way to get ahold of Whitehorse?".  
"Radio is best, unfortunately ours was destroyed the last time the Peggies made their way through here. Feel free to take a vehicle over to the jail though, be careful though, John has his men patrolling the roads". with that she was out the door.

Now that things had calmed down Jade had a moment to sit and reflect on her dream. The Peggies had called her a 'sinner' and attacked... She killed people, brutally.. in her wolf form, and she liked it. Then that voice. It was the man she saw in her dream in the church. Again saying he would 'save her'. Lost in thought she stared into the floor. Not noticing Mary May return.  
"So everyone is ok, it was just one patrol truck that rolled through here. Idiots. Pastor Jarome is going to come by and take mr. unconscious here, try to get some information from him when he wakes up."

"Pastor Jarome is still around?"

"He sure is Rook, I'm sure he'd like to talk to you at some point"

"Yeah, we didn't really leave on good terms, I gotta get going anyway.. I left my gear in Whitehorse's truck"  
"Alright, you take care of yourself Rook. They keys should be in the truck parked by the garage."  
"Thanks, you too"  
Jade stepped over the unconscious guy in the door way and made her way toward the vehicle, hopped in and started it up. The time on the clock was 5:54pm 'crap! Whitehorse was leaving at 7!' she cursed under she breath and punched the gas. Mary May had mentioned that John Seed had men patrolling some of the roads and wondered what would happen if she was pulled over. More gruesome images came to mind before she shook her head and flipped on the radio.

"Come brothers and come sisters, come weary and come strong, come meet the man who reaps the land on which we walk upon. The time has come for judgement but we ain't done nothing wrong. Join us so we all can sing along..."  
Jade stared at the radio.  
"Oh John... bold and brave, he's finding us a family, he's teaching us to fend. Oh John, keep us safe, He's gonna march us right though Eden's Gate. Oh Lord, He's gonna march us right through Eden's Gate-"

"what..the..fuck?!" Jade nearly broke her hand from turning off the radio so quickly. "This John guy sounds like a real peach" she rolled her eyes. "Silence it is!".  
45 uneventful minutes passed, the scenery was as beautiful as ever. There was no other vehicles on the road which was eerie, but she pressed on and eventually made it to the familiar jail.

Jade hopped out of the truck and made her way through the front door. Nothing had really changed about the building except the barricades outfront. She had worked at the building for 5 years, a lot had happened there, she reminisced as she walked on. She could hear Earl talking to other people through the door ahead, she came through the door to find that the room had been converted into some kind of medical room, cots lined the wall along with IV polls and various other medical equipment.

"Rook!"

"Hey Earl"  
"Burke this is Jade Thomas, she's a Hope County deputy-"  
"Former Deputy" Jade interrupted "Just rolled back into town briefly"  
Earl crossed his arms

"Well 'former' deputy Thomas, nice to meet you. You know it would be helpful for you to join us to arrest Joseph. Another fresh pair of eyes".  
"That seems to be the running opinion. You're still going?" Jade asked  
"We sure are, sounds like Hope County has really gone off the rails. We are leaving in 15 minutes".  
Jade sighed and slouched dramatically "fiiiiine, I'll come. But just to observe."  
Earl smiled "Well Rook, we better get you reacquainted with your fellow officers, boy are they going to be surprised to see you! Marshal we'll meet you by the front door in 10" he turned and motioned for Jade to follow him.  
Through another door was the meeting room where Deputy Pratt and Hudson were both leaning looking over a map.  
"Hudson, Pratt, I found something you guys might be interested in"  
"Is it the head of Joseph seed?" Hudson said blankly without looking over.

"Sorry, not quite."  
"Well what? we're-" Hudson paused and her mouth stayed open as she saw Jade walk into the room after Earl.  
"Rook!? No fucking way!? We were worried sick!"  
Pratt also had turned around at this time and his arms fell to his sides, his eyes wide. "Rook..."  
"Hey guys, been a long time. You guys look exactly the same, except for you Pratt? What's with the long hair?" Jade joked   
"Rook here is going to accompany us to arrest Joseph.." Earl stated mater of factly as he walked over to a desk and began rummaging through a drawer. "aha!" as he tossed Jade her old badge. "It's been lonely here without you" he smiled.  
Jade caught it clumsily, running her fingers over the embossed symbol and smiling. "OH, Earl, I forgot my stuff in the truck yesterday!"

"I saw that. You don't expect to bring a bow with us do you?"

"Well I.. uhh.. that's my weapon."  
"Alright alright, but if you poke someone in the eye with it on the ride over..."  
"You know.. I have yet to do that."  
"Why don't you want a firearm anyway, bows are so awkward" Hudson asked with a raised eyebrow  
"I like the way it hugs my body!" Jade replied sarcastically  
Earl leaned back on the desk smiling and watched his deputies interact "Shit Rook, it's like you never left."  
"Alright kids, time to go. Rook the truck is parked on the inside of the gate, meet us by the chopper".  
"Chopper?" Jade nervously began to fidget "I- uh.. I don't fly"

"Well you do today!"

"Earl I- "

"That's an order" he turned and walked out the door followed by Pratt and Hudson.  
'Well fuck, can't really tell them why.. I doubt 'oh by the way if I get stressed out I might erupt into a bitey fur ball' would go very well..' quietly weighting her options as she made her way to the sheriff truck. 'I guess I could try, I have alot more control now'. She reached in and grabbed her stuff and threw it over her shoulder and proceeded toward the chopper, which was now starting up.  
Pratt was piloting, Marshal Burke sat beside Whitehorse and Hudson sat beside an empty seat and patted it when she saw Jade looking in.

With an obvious gulp Jade climbed in, put on a headset and buckled her self in giving a thumbs up.

"Alright Pratt, we're all ready back here. Take us to Joseph's compound"

"Roger"


	5. Chapter 5

The helicopter began to rise slowly and Jade's grip tightened on her knees and she tried to remember to breath.

The ride over remained relatively quite until Pratt spoke "We're crossing the Henbane now.."

Jade looked out and saw a giant stone statue of a man with his hand outstretched and holding a book. "What is that!? That never used to be here."

"The cult built that crazy motherfucker, We are officially in Peggie country"

"Joseph Seed is not a man to be fucked with, we've had run ins with him before, and they haven't always gone our way." explained Whitehorse  
"Yeah well we have laws for a reason sheriff, Joseph is going to learn that" Burke gestured around with the warrant.

"Pratt. Open a call with dispatch" Earl sounded tired already  
"10 4"  
"Dispatch this is Whitehorse, over"  
"Go ahead Earl"  
"We're approaching the compound Nancy, over"  
"Roger sheriff, you're still going through with this? Over"  
"We are, over"  
"You just let me know if there's any trouble, over"

"10 4 over and out"

"We're here, compounds just below" Pratt came over the radio

Jade looked out and saw what looked to be a church surrounded by smaller outbuildings, a green house and a few open fires.

"This is a bad idea" Hudson said nervously  
"We're going in, take it down Pratt. Dispatch, You still there?"  
"What to you need sheriff?"  
"If you don't hear from us in 15 minutes, send in everyone. Call the goddamn national guard if you have to, over."

"Yes sir sheriff, I'll be praying for ya"

With the chopper now on the ground Whitehorse leans over "3 rules! Stay close! Keep your weapons holstered! And let me do the talking!"  
Jade nodded, undid her seatbelt and stepped out of the chopper and looked upon their surroundings. Peggies had already started gathering menacingly. Pratt stayed in the chopper as Whitehorse, Burke, Hudson and Jade made their way out.

Earl pointed forward "They'll be in the church. The whole family. They meet after dinner for sermons".  
The Peggies all had weapons, Whitehorse ushered them to stay calm as they walked through the compound toward the white church.  
Calming choir music could be heard coming from inside. Hudson waited outside the front door.  
Jade's eyes were everywhere, trying to take in as much as she could. All of this was so other worldly to her. The doors to the church swung open, the light source seemed mainly to come from the front, inside were 2 rows of pews, bird cages hung from the ceiling, and the walls were covered in script she didn't have time to read before a voice echoed through the building.  
"Something is coming... You can feel it can't you" a strong male voice. "We are careening toward the edge...and there will be a reckoning. That is why we started the project, because we know what happens next!"  
That voice, so familiar, but Jade was too distracted to make any kind of connections.  
The party slowly approached, Whitehorse leaned over to you and whispered "Behind Joseph, the camo ginger is Jacob. Slick hair is John and woman is Faith".  
Jade finally looked forward to the man speaking, he was topless wearing tight black jeans and a large belt buckle.. seemed kind of inappropriate for a preacher.. and his hair? was it in a man bun?! What kind of person was this?!  
"Joseph Seed! I have a warrant issued for your arrest! On the suspicion of kidnapping with the intent to do harm". Burke flashed his warrant. "Now I want you to step forward and keep your hands where I can see them".  
Joseph brought his hands up "There they are. The locusts in our garden, See they've come for me, to take me away from you."  
That voice... Jade got wide eyed. No. It couldn't be? How?  
"And so the lamb opened the first seal. And I saw a white horse and hell followed with- " Joseph paused when he locked eyes with Jade, his mouth hung open for a moment.

At the same time their eyes met Jade knew. It was him. That man from her dream. Those eyes. She felt her tail tug at it restraints as she instinctively tried to pull it between her legs. She tried to sink out of his piercing gaze, but it was no use, he saw her.  
John and Jacob began to move forward as they noticed something largely out of character for their brother.

When Jade noticed the other brothers advances, she immediately turned around and ran for the church doors and out into the compound, she could barely hear Hudson yelling after her because of the sound of blood pounding in her head. It was too late for calming words and breathing exercises, the phase was happening and she needed to get to the forest.

She ran as hard as she could making it into the forest outside of the compound. 10 feet in she threw off her bow, quiver and backpack. She kicked off her shoes and stumbled out of her pants while she tore at her shirt and the belt around her tail. Just in time as the fur started spreading over her smooth flesh like a wildfire. Jade's face had already began to change as she was disrobing. She fell forward, her legs gave out as they began to change. Her big toes on each foot shrunk and retracted up the sides of her feet forming her dew claws, while the other toes grew, the flesh thickened into pads and her nails formed into points. With more contorting Jade grew tall, and lanky, ripping clear out of her bra and underwear. Strong shoulders formed along with claws and paws on her hands. There she was. Phasing out of control not 30 feet away from people.  
Escape. Hide. Run were the only things that went through her mind as she gathered up her clothing that she tossed aside. She stuffed it all haphazardly into her bag before slipping it over her back along with her quiver and bow. She was gone at full speed, leaping gracefully over fallen trees as her powerful muscles carried her. 'I need to get back to Fall's End.. I hope the others are ok back at the compound.' she tried to think but all she could do was run.


	6. Chapter 6

The sun rise broke through the tree cover, lighting up the dense forest floor in patches. Jade groaned and curled up into the fetal position as she felt the sun on her. Snapping her eyes open as she remembered the last nights events, she looked around her and realized she didn't remember getting there, she must have passed out after she bolted... 'I have to get back to civilization and check in on the guys!' she still had on her gear, so she up and went after shaking off the pine needles from her fur. As she traveled she tried to conjure the memory of the previous night's events before she ran off. Jade remembered the helicopter ride over, landing in Joseph's compound and seeing his followers all armed. The white church, the calming hymns coming from the building, a different reality from the goings on outside. Joseph's voice, she had heard him speak in a dream only a few nights before. Jade's stomach dropped when she remembered when her eyes met with Joseph's, it seemed to have made him falter too. How could something so simple cause her to lose it like some fucking newby phasling? It angered her. After some time she figured she was on the east side of Silver Lake near Rae Rae's pumpkin farm, she had somehow made it off Joseph's island last night. She squinted and tried to remember how she got there 'Did I steal a jetski?'. Her concentration broke when she noticed the colourful billboard sign from the forest, Rae Rae's pumpkin farm. She had fond memories from going there as a kid with her family to pick out pumpkins for Halloween. Finding the biggest or the ugliest, imaging what they would carve. Smiling fondly as she looked on, that's when she heard it. 'It's that goddamn song from the radio'. Not only was that song playing but there also was a man's voice from a different radio, he spoke of cleansing and the power of yes. Why on earth was this shit playing at Rae Rae's? She moved closer for a better look. There was a truck with large speakers parked out front of the main house, while a hand full of people stood around a few large cages, they all wore similar clothing marked with the same cross symbol she saw at Joseph's compound the night before. The cult was here. Pulling off her bow, she pulled out an arrow and aimed, she heard it hit the outermost cultist with a satisfactory thud. She took out another 3 without being spotted, as the final cultist fell to the ground with an arrow sticking out of their head Jade moved from her cover in the forest and toward the house. Jade made it to the first of the bodies to reclaim her arrows when she heard more movement and a bark, closer to the house was a large metal cage, in it was a domestic dog, he was black and silvery white with one perky ear and nice eyes. 'Hang on there little guy' she walked over and tore the lock off, the door jerked open and the dog hopped out. Jade returned to collecting her arrows, when she was finished she saw the dog sitting by the front door to the house. When she approached she saw what the dog was looking at, the lovely elderly couple who lived there lay dead and bloody, they must have been his owners. Jade walked over to the dog at patted him on the head, he looked up and whined before looking back at the people. 'I got the people who did this' she thought, seeming to have heard her the dog jumped up and licked at her, not seeming to mind her strange appearance. She smiled and pet him some more 'you can come with me if you want, you'll get some revenge, but you have to stay quiet'. Jade stepped past the bodies out front and ducked into the house to check quickly for any supplies or information about what happened here. She found a letter left from Rae Rae, it mentioned the cult wanting their land and Boomer. It also stated that Rae Rae intended to stand their ground. Which Jade assumed got them killed.  
After she was done going through the house she ducked back through the door and looked at the dog 'So you must be Boomer? We aren't far from Fall's End, we should get going.' Jade walked past the dog and headed back towards the forest. The kept at a steady pace, both easily traversing the fallen trees and branches that littered the forest floor. Up ahead Jade could smell a bear, Boomer seemed to aswell- letting out a growl. Together they moved forward, she pulled off her bow and readied an arrow. The bear was just ahead, it was distracted by digging away at some roots, it likely had only come out of hibernation a few weeks before. Jade loosed her arrow, hitting the bear right between the eyes, the bear fell forward with moan, her and Boomer ate together for the first time.  
A couple hours, an eaten bear and an awkward phase later, Jade and Boomer were outside Fall's End making their way to the Spread Eagle. "Now Boomer" she furrowed her eyebrows "If we are going to travel together I wish you wouldn't watch me when I phase.... I've never had an audience before." Boomer barked as he walked behind her.

Mary May was at the bar when they walked in "Rook! Thank God you're ok! We heard what happened!" she ran over and hugged Jade before pulling back "How did you get out?!"

 

"Actually Mary May I have to speak with Whitehorse before I can really go into what hap- wait, what do you mean get out?"

 

"They never made it back Rook..."

 

"Any of them?

 

"No hon, their helicopter went down over Joseph's compound!"

 

"Oh my god, did anyone survive!?"

 

"They were all ok from the crash, but they might not be for long! They were all taken and divied up by the cult! John has Hudson, Jacob has Pratt and Faith has the marshal and Earl! I'm scared Rook!"

 

Jade had her hand on her face "I need to sit down" the bear was not sitting well anymore. She felt dread for her fellow officers and she felt guilt for not being there with them.

 

Mary May ushered Jade over to a bar stool and continued to hold her hand.

 

"I will get them back" Jade's dread finally turning into anger, slamming one of her fists down on the bar

 

"How?"

 

"I'm going to go to war against those Seed fucks and their crazy cult"

 

"What about the law?"

 

"Mary May there is no more law here. Tell everyone around here to stay close to home and to keep their weapons closer, I'm about to kick the hornet's nest"

 

"I will Rook, who are you going after first?"

 

"Hudson I think, she's closest, and I have a bone to pick with John"

 

"We have a number of extra weapons and lots of ammunition if you need anything"

 

Jade stood up and headed toward the stairs case "Thanks, I'll stock up in the morning before I leave"

 

"Before you go, we got more radios, I want you to take one" Mary May went back behind the bar and grabbed one and handed it to Jade "please keep in touch"

 

"I will Mary May, thanks"

 

"Is that Rae Rae's dog Boomer that's following you around?"

 

"Yeah it is, I stopped by there on my way here and the cult had killed everyone and Boomer was in a cage"

 

"My God"

 

"Yeah. Goodnight" Jade and Boomer went up the stairs and into the room  
Jade locked the door once they were inside, Boomer instantly flew up and laid down on the bed. "Oh so that's how it is?" Jade walked over and sat on the bed next to him, her insides burned with anger from the cult, she began petting Boomer and was soothed. She turned out the lights and crawled into bed, falling asleep before her head hit the pillow.


	7. Chapter 7

Boomer was still snoring when Jade awoke the next morning, she still felt the burning anger from last night. As she got out of bed she noticed a piece of paper that had been slipped under her door.

"Rook, I let food for you and Boomer outside your door.  
I'll be gone by the time you get up, ammo is in the shop across the street.  
Safe travels  
Mary May"

"That was thoughtful" Jade opened the door to find a can of dog food and a stack of pancakes.  
Boomer barked excitedly when Jade showed him the can. They both ate their meals silently before she said goodbye to her room once more.  
Jade crossed the road to the shop and filled up on ammo, she also grabbed some grenades. She didn't wan't to over burden herself with too many weapons. Her knife and bow would do for now.  
With that her and Boomer set off. The day went fairly smoothly, she learned quickly that nearly all places were overtaken by the cult or abandoned... Jade had discovered that the giant red silos were full of bliss and that destroying them scratched some kind of itch- much like popping a zit. A red, obnoxious, eyesore that caused nothing but pain.  
By dusk she had killed over 25 cult members and destroyed 4 silos. It had been a long time since she felt this accomplished. Jade had come across a house off the beaten path that looked to be abandoned, it had writing all over it much like she saw on the night she discovered the first bliss field. The walls read 'SINNER', 'GREED', and 'SLOTH'. She checked through the entire house before deeming it safe to stay in over night, Jade found a couple cans of food in the kitchen, she cracked one open for Boomer and one for herself- she ate it cold, right from the can.   
"Well Boomer, I'd say we had a pretty successful first day" she patted him on the head on her way over to the couch.  
Jade and Boomer followed this routine of culling the cult and destroying their property for the next couple of days.  
On the third day Jade came across US Auto, she had seen black smoke headed from this direction and followed it. The cult was here in larger numbers, this would be a harder job, but the challenge excited her. There was only one alarm that she made short work of destroying, next was any type of spotter. Jade shot the sniper sitting on the roof, nobody would have noticed either if his body hadn't fallen off the side of the building in front of another peggie. Jade cursed as the peggie screamed, alerting the other members around the outpost. She stayed crouched in the bushes as the cultists ran around her hiding spot, looking for what could have killed their companion. A peggie strayed a little too close for her comfort, she stood up quickly from the bush and snapped the woman's neck, sinking back into the bush unseen. Jade was able to pick off the peggies one by one until she was in the clear. She picked up her radio and went to the Fall's End frequency. "Mary May?"

"I'm here Rook"

 

"I just retook US Auto from the cult"

 

"I'll send some Resistance members over to clean it up"

 

"You guys can finally do some repairs"

 

"You're doing a great job Rook, but there's still way more to go"

 

"I'm on it"

Jade didn't wait around for the Resistance member to show up, she didn't need their praises, she was on a mission.  
It was dinner when the call came in "Rook? This is Mary May"

"Go ahead"

 

"John just put out a broadcast, you'd better come see this"

 

"I'll make my way back"

Thankfully Jade wasn't too far out from US Auto, she walked back there and borrowed one of the Resistance's vehicles and quickly made her way back to the Spread Eagle.  
"Fuck! Rook!" Mary May nearly shot Jade's head off when she came through the door. "Sorry I'm a little edgy.."

"You almost shot me in the head!"

 

"Maybe I should put a 'please knock' or 'enter slowly' sign on the door"

 

"Yeah I'm sure the peggies will absolutely read that"

 

"shut up.." Mary May laughed "OH! The Broadcast!" she flipped on a little tv she had on the shelf behind the bar  
Rook walked over and leaned on the bar, the tv showed John looking exactly the same as the night she saw him in the church. He had on the same brown coat, neatly trimmed beard and his hair slicked back with his blue aviators set neatly ontop of his head.

"We are all sinners. Every one of us..

You. Me. Even The Father knows deeply of sin. It's a poison that clouds our minds.

What if I told you, you could be free from sin? What if I told you that everything you ever dreamed could true? What if I told you that everything could be overcome if you embraced an idea: That freedom from sin can come from the power of just one word... yes."

 

"Hudson! Keep your filthy hands off her!" Jade slammed her fist on the bar

 

John continued on "Yes I am a sinner. Yes I wish to be unburdened. Yes.. I must be redeemed.

If you're watching this, know that you have been selected. You will be cleansed. You will confess your sins, and you will will be offered atonement. Don't worry, you don't have to do anything. We'll come for you. Welcome to Eden's Gate."

"Rook... I think this message was directed at you" Mary May said wide eyed 

 

"I think you're right. Watch Boomer for me ok?"

 

"What?! You're not going to surrender are you?"

 

"No, but if he has people coming for me right now, I don't want Boomer hit in the crossfire"

 

"I'll take care of him Rook, you be careful out there"

 

"Always am"

Jade led him upstairs to the room and let him inside, she knelt down and petted him as he licked her face "Boomer, be good for Mary May. Get some rest." she stood up and closed the door. She could hear him start to panic once he heard her descend the stairs.

  
She left the Spread Eagle and jumped on a quad that was parked nearby, Jade drove off into the night not really knowing what to expect from this hunting party John had set loose on her. Fortunately she didn't have to wait long, as a white cult truck pulled onto the road behind her. Jade drove the quad through a narrow path that led into the forest, and jumped off it before it stopped. Jade grabbed her bow and prepped an arrow as she crouched in the bushes, she heard the peggies get out of their truck and begin tracking her on foot.

"It's deputy hunting season"

Once the hunting parky had passed her she shot one of them in the back of the head with an arrow, as her victim fell the others noticed right away, causing them do double back and almost walk right over her. 'fuck fuck fuck...' she felt like at this point they could probably hear her heart beat, she couldn't take it. Jade rose up out of the bushes and loosed an arrow on another peggie. The others shot at her immediately. 3 misses and 1 hit. She stared down at where the bullet had hit, then back up at the shooter and shot him in the face. The remaining 2 cultists continued to shoot, another hit still no good. They began to retreat slightly, one kept shooting- and hitting, while the other radioed for backup before being shot by Jade. She had been hit by 4 bliss bullets so far and they weren't doing anything to her. It wasn't long before another truck loaded with a peggie hunting party showed up, the new group stayed by their vehicle shooting at Jade mercilessly. They hit her and she killed most of them, until she blacked out.


	8. Chapter 8

A cool breeze blew against Jade's bare skin pulling her from her unconscious state, her whole body hurt. She went to rub her head and panicked when she realized she couldn't move her arms. Her eyes flew open and she looked around her arms were taped down to the arms of the chair she was sitting in, she could also feel that her legs were bound. She struggled against her restraints until she felt the cool breeze across her chest again, she looked how and say that her tshirt had been cut halfway down- exposing her collar bones and the tops of her breasts. "What the fuck!?" she hissed

"Language" came a males voice from the shadow across the room

 

"This was my favourite shirt you piece of shit"

 

"Looks like you will need your mouth cleaned along with your soul..."

 

"Let me guess. You must be Seed jr.. mr. greasy hair"

 

A growl could be heard from his side of the room before he had launched forward and had his forearm on Jade's neck.

 

"Somebody... is a.. little grumpy." Jade wheezed  

 

John leaned in and whispered in her ear "It is unwise to test me deputy, especially in your current predicament.." dropping his arm from her neck and swiping a finger across the bare skin over her collar bones.

 

Jade leaned her head forward to whisper in John's ear "Ohhh John I think it's even more unwise for you to test ME".

 

John stood back up and backed away from Jade his eyes were dark and sinister, much like his grin. He turned around and walked toward the workbench in the center of the room, he sloughed off his long brown coat and set it down neatly leaving him in a blue dress shirt with the top 4 buttons undone and a tight black vest. He rolled up his sleeves revealing a number of tattoos, he opened a tool box and began humming as he rustled around. "Joseph is on his way, he wanted to over see your confession personally. He has been quite interested in you since the church incident."

Jade growled, but internally she was spiraling. Joseph was coming.

  
John made his way back over to her with a bowl of water, he dipped a cloth in and wiped it over Jade's chest "Don't touch me" she hissed

John chuckled to himself and continued until there was a gentle knock on the door, he walked over and greeted Joseph.

Joseph walked in and lightly put his hand around the back of John's head and leaned forward to touch his forehead to John's.. "You've done well John" he said calmly. Joseph then walked over leaned against the workbench and looked over at Jade, she wore hiking boots, baggy camo cargo pants, a ripped shirt read 'trouble maker', her dark hair was spiky and she had a good amount of blood on her. Her green eyes were locked on John, who continued to dig around in his toolbox loudly. Joseph could feel the heat of her rage coming off her.

"Ahhh here we go" John put all his supplies on a little rolling tray table and wheeled it over to Jade. There were knives, a screwdriver, a tattoo gun and what Jade assumed to be ink.

 

"Let's begin" John smiled as he connected the power cable to the tattoo gun. "First though, I have a question... What are you? 150 lbs?"

 

Jade furrowed her eyebrows "Uhhh? I'm not sure, probably"

 

"Now tell me.. Why did my men have to knock you out with a baseball bat?"

 

Jade groaned and winced an eye "that explains the headache, and some of this blood I guess"

 

"My men told me they shot you with 12... **12**!!! bliss bullets and they had to resort to other methods"

 

"Ah that explains the rest of the blood..."

 

"Deputy are you aware that a single bliss bullet can knock a full sized grizzly bear out cold?"

 

Joseph's eyes were on her every movement, and Jade could feel it, she avoided looking at him- not wanting a repeat incident from the other night. Though she weighted her options.. torture vs revealing the ace in her hand.

Jade looked innocently into John's vivid blue eyes "I'm not sure what to tell you Seed cake, I did have some kale once, maybe that did it"

 

John's hand flew up to her neck again

 

Joseph took a step forward and cleared his throat "You must love them John."

 

John's hand loosened but didn't break eye contact with Jade. "I'm sorry Joseph. Let's move onto her confession then shall we?  
You will confess every sin you've ever committed, no matter how petty. No matter how small.. I will reveal your sin and etch it onto your flesh so you can carry its burden"

"Right. Uhh. No."

 

"I know of one.. Wrath. Your sin is wrath. It drives you to kill and destroy." John spoke as he readied his tattoo gun and dipped it in some ink. Now don't move or this will look like garbage"

 

"It'll look like garbage regardless" 

 

John growled and began tattooing the sensitive skin below Jade's collarbones.

 

Jade let her mind wander, she thought about phasing and throwing John into the wall infront of his brother. Or what their reactions would be as he body began to contort- they'd probably try to through holy water on her, thinking she was possessed. She grinned at the thought.

 

"What's so funny dep?" John looked annoyed that she wasn't writhing in agony.

 

"Oh.. uh- I'm really ticklish"

 

"You're tattoo is tickling?" John's eyes were furious

 

It wasn't too much longer before the tattoo gun stopped buzzing and John was wiping away the blood and excess ink before stepping back and admiring his work. Joseph also leaned forward to get a better look, he approved of John's work.

 

"Alright, now we will pull from you your next sin"

 

Now was her chance "How about we make a deal?"

 

John looked at her with an eyebrow raised "Oh darling, you aren't in a position to make any deals" 

 

"I will listen to your offer Deputy" inserted Joseph

 

"I will trade myself for Hudson" Jade said, still not looking at Joseph

 

"But deputy, we already _have_ you" grinned John

 

"Not for long, and you definitely don't have my cooperation"

 

"John, can I speak with you outside?" Joseph gestured toward the door

 

John stood up and followed Joseph out, Jade could hear their voices, they didn't go far. Jade was going for it, she flexed her wrists and pulled up, easily ripping through the duct tape, once her hands were free she untied her legs. Her options were a vent or a side door, she was far too claustrophobic for the vent so she ran for the door- of course it was locked. She pulled hard on the handle, ripping it clean off the door, the door creaked open and she was gone. There were no windows around so Jade assumed she was in one of the underground bunkers, thankfully the bunker was clearly marked with directions. This building was huge there were plenty of rooms and crates labelled 'food'  
some labelled 'water', whatever these guys thought was coming was a big deal. When she had finally came to the staircase the alarms started sounding 'Took those fuckers long enough'... she hurried up the stairs and came to a final door.

The sunlight burned her eyes as she ran out the door, she didn't stop to give her eyes a chance to adjust, she just kept going.


	9. Chapter 9

The knob turned and the door opened into the room where Jade was being held. John led, while looking at the floor and wringing his hangs together "Well deputy, we have considered your- deputy?" John's eyes widened as he looked to the chair where he had left Jade tied. "Where is she!" he fumed.

 

Joseph followed behind and walked curiously over to the chair and examined it "The tape is torn, not cut" he got up and walked toward the open side door and just stared. 

 

John walked to Joseph to see what he was staring at.."She pulled off the door handle??"

 

John picked up his radio and yelled into it "Guards! We have an runner, stop the deputy!"

 

The alarms began to sound.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jade had just made it out of John's bunker, running blindly as her eyes adjusted to the bright sun light. It wasn't long before her sight returned and she was in the relative safety of the forest again, she heard John's men run through the bunker door and spread out around the compound. Jade had no idea where her bow was at this point, it didn't matter, not with this many peggies tracking her. She felt a pinch of pain from the tattoo John had given her- she'd completely forgotten about it until now. There was a quad parked along the side of the road, Jade saw the opportunity and took it, she would be back in Fall's End in less than 20 minutes.

 

Jade walked through the door at the Spread Eagle and went right to the bathroom. She stood infront of the mirror and pulled her shirt collar down to look at the damage. 'WRATH' was inked fairly neatly in bold letter across her chest, she punched the wall beside the mirror. 'Fucker!'

 

"Hey is everything ok in there?" Mary May spoke on the other side of the door

 

"yeah... I'm sorry"

 

"Rook?"

 

Jade opened the door to see the look of concern on Mary May's face "Yeah I just got back"

 

"You've been gone a couple days! We weren't sure we'd see you again!"

 

"John's men caught me and I was brought to his bunker. I tried to get Hudson back but all I recieved was this ugly ass tattoo" Jade pulled down the collar of her shirt to expose the fresh ink.

 

"John marked you! Wrath?"

 

Jade smiled "John doesn't like that I've been fucking with him" 

 

"He doesn't like when things don't go his way Rook, he'll be out looking for you big time now"

 

"I'll be better prepared. Hey, how was Boomer?"

 

"Oh he survived, he calmed down a couple hours after you left. He really took to Nick Rye from Rye and Son's Aviation, you remember him? Anyway, Boomer has been staying with them."

 

"Nick still lives in town? That's great we went to school together along with Sharky and Hurk"

 

"All those boys are still living in Hope County"

 

"Man, it'll be good to catch up! I'm going to go get Boomer after I change"

 

"Say hi to them for me"

 

"will do"

 

Jade went up to the room and looked through the old dresser, she thought she had seen some clothes left in there. She was able to find a shirt- just plain black and a size too big. 'I wonder if the peggies left my gear behind when they caught me? Better check'. She closed the door behind her and was off again, this time she took a Resistance truck, the drive was short and the quad she had taken was still parked where she had left it a few nights ago, a good sign. Jade walked into the forest and heard the crackling of a radio, she followed the sound to her radio which had been discarded along with her bow and quiver. Excellent! She got back to the truck and began making her way to Rye and Son's Aviation.

 

Jade's radio continued to crackle before the familiar smooth voice of John came through "Sin is pervasive. It drives us to do unspeakable acts. I know the feelings that drives you. I know them intimately. But I can help you Deputy, I can wash away these sins. I can cleanse your soul. It will be difficult and it will be painful, but... it will be worth it. The harder you resist, well.. the harder we'll have to scrub your soul clean. I will have you on your knees screaming 'yes'.."

 

Jade couldn't help her self "John. Hell will freeze over before I bend to you."

 

"Ah Deputy, I'm surprised you answered"

 

"Yeah have you been trying long? Sorry- I was captured by this fucking lunatic family and had to escape, thankfully it was pretty easy because they aren't very smart.."

 

John sighed "We still have to continue your confession, you will say 'yes' to me"

 

"That didn't really work out for you last time did it? Seems you can't really use your 'bliss' bullshit either, that must be a real bummer for you."

 

"We will hand over Hudson in exchange for you"

 

"Really?"

 

"Yes. Tonight. 11pm. Your precious Hudson will be returned alive. You will meet us at the pumpkin farm. Alone."

 

Jade pulled the truck over and stared at her radio before switching the frequency over to Fall's End. "Mary May?"

 

"I'm here Rook"

 

"John just radioed me. He's offering to let Hudson go in exchange for me."

 

"You're not going to do it are you!?"

 

"I have to, I escaped once, it won't be hard to do it again. I have some stuff to do before the meet up, please contact Nick for me and ask if he can watch Boomer a little longer?"

 

"Rook this is a bad idea, but I trust you. I'll let Nick know. Be safe out there"

 

"Thanks Mary May, I will be"

 

Jade got out of the truck and left everything but her radio and the clothes on her back and made her may into the forest. Once in the trees she stripped out of her clothes and rolled them up neatly securing them with the belt she used to keep her tail stuck to her leg. She back up and began to phase, she didn't know how long she would be stuck with John or what he'd do, she needed a good run and a big meal incase he tried to starve her. 

 

Her fur glistened in the rays of sun that streamed through the forest from the setting sun. With the transformation complete she was able to loop the belt around her neck to hold her stuff snugly against her. She sniffed the air taking in the rich aromas around her, the plants, the wildlife, the fresh water and mountains. There were moose in the area aswell as a couple bears 'hm.. horns and running or claws and teeth'. She sauntered off in the direction of the moose. They had their heads down with their floppy noses submerged in the shallow water grazing on aquatic plants. Jade easily snuck up on the herd, only seeing a few members bring their heads up and flick their ears in her direction. She paused and waited for them to go back to grazing, she realized she hadn't hunted without her bow in quite a while and began to worry she would mess up. She squeezed her eyes closed and took a few deep breaths before pouncing from her cover and onto the back of the large bull moose. His head flew out of the water and he began trying to buck her off, his harem off females dispersed into the forest. Jade tried to steady herself on his back and bit down into the back of his neck, he was too large for her to break his neck, she needed to bite down on his windpipe to suffocate him. She jumped off his side, which sent him off balance giving her the chance to bite onto him under the jaw, his neck was strong and his powerful legs struck out forward to try and knock her loose- but she was locked on. The moose began to tire from fighting and grew weak from lack of oxygen, he laid down in the grass and eventually died. Jade gorged herself on her kill.

 

  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

After John finished his radio call with Jade he flipped his radio over to Joseph's frequency, he would be finished his sermon by now. "Joseph?"

 

"Yes John?"

 

"I've made contact with the Deputy and she is willing to trade herself for Hudson. We are meeting at the pumpkin farm at 11 pm then we will be returning to my farm"

 

"Good John, I will be at your place when you return.. and John- don't mess this up."

 

"No Joseph."

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

It was 10:45pm, fortunately her radio also displayed the time. She was in the trees overlooking the pumpkin farm, no one was there yet. She set down her stuff and phased back into her human shape and began to get dressed, when she looked down at her body she was startled to see that her tattoo was gone. Jade felt her skin where it was supposed to be and it was smooth. This was her first experience with tattoos and it made sense- her phases cause her to produce new skin every time, that's why she never had any scars. She wondered if John would try to check in his handiwork. She finished getting dressed and walked toward Rae Rae's house and leaned against the fence, it wasn't long before she could see 3 pairs of headlights coming up the drive.


	10. Chapter 10

The 3 black suvs parked infront of the house and peggies poured out of each one, along with Hudson- who had her hands tied behind her back, tape over her mouth, her cheeks were stained with tears and her eyes darted around in panic before settling on Jade. The peggie guards held Hudson firmly while more men came forward to check Jade for weapons.

 

"Guys, I don't have anything but this radio and I'm all alone, let's make this quick." Jade was annoyed already

 

John made his up to the front of the crowd of peggies and put a hand firmly on Hudson's shoulder, causing her to visibly shudder and try to move away. "Hudson, the Deputy here has traded herself for

you. You are going to be set free."

 

 

Hudson looked toward Jade with scared and confused eyes before starting to cry again.

 

 

"Deputy, please put your hands behind your back and back towards us slowly"

 

 

"Little dramatic don't you think John? I want Hudson freed first"

 

 

John laughed darkly "Deputy I've seen what you are capable of, you will have to take my word about Hudson. My men will free her once we have made the exchange and left the area."

 

 

Jade glared at John before turning around and clasping her hands together behind her back, she began shuffling backward.

 

She felt John grab her hands and cuffs them, he then pulled her back flush against him "You aren't going anywhere now" he whispered in her ear before biting it. Jade could feel John's prominent erection jabbing into her lower back causing her to jump forward, not making it very far as John kept a firm hold on her arm. She turned to look at him with disgust, his pupils were blown and he smiled darkly, John motioned to his guards and they came over and ushered Jade to one of the black suvs. The interior of the vehicle was black leather with the custom addition of a military grade divider between the front and back seats. John got into the front passenger seat and looked back at Jade "You see what we had installed just for you?"

 

Jade said nothing and just looked out the window

 

The car started and they were off, only 1 of the 2 other suvs followed them back. It was a long drive, and with each passing moment she felt her freedom slipping away. They pulled up a long driveway and parked infront of a spectacular log home, Jade was let out of the back of the suv and pushed along. John walked beside her "welcome to your new home"

 

"What is this place?

 

"It's my home"

 

"Wait.. What if I don't want to stay with you?"

 

"The deal was you for Hudson, that's it. I'm afraid you don't have much say Deputy"

 

Jade could feel her blood begin to boil, she began resisting, pulling back against the guards and kicking one of them in the shin causing him to fall to the ground. A singular gunshot sounded stopping Jade immediately. She looked around and saw Joseph on the porch holding his gun toward the sky. He was standing shirtless, his torso was covered in tattoos and what looked like scars. He wore tight black jeans, black boots  and his yellow aviators.

 

"My child. Do not fight us, we are here to save you" Joseph spoke calmly

 

Jade looked down at the man she kicked and growled as she was pushed towards the house by John. The ceilings were high inside the house and it was decorated with taxidermy- pelts, antlers, you name it. Jade was led through the house toward a set of stairs that went down to a hallway that had 4 heavy metal doors. Jade was led into one of the rooms, it was concrete with a simple bed bolted to the floor, a toilet and a small sink. Her hands were uncuffed from behind her back and John sat her on the bed. He cuffed one of her wrists to the frame of the bed while Joseph gifted her ankle with a shackle that hooked to a thick chain that attached to the wall.

 

"Fucking great guys... This chain is way too heavy! How am I supposed to walk around"

 

Joseph leaned against the wall by the door across from the bed. John leaned down infront of Jade so they were eye level "I'm not buying that for one second. You ripped a locked door handle clean off the door you escaped though last time.. You remember no?"

 

"Me? No? I'm small and frail!"

 

"Nice try" John laughed and stood up

 

Jade huffed a sigh looking down at the shackle on her ankle

 

"Now take off your shirt"

 

"What! No way you sick fuck!"

 

"I need to see your tattoo. You can either take your shirt off yourself or I'll cut it off"

 

"Well I certainly ain't taking it off for you pervs... Trust me it's healing fine" 

 

John looked back at Joseph who nodded. John jumped on Jade, pushing her back down onto the bed and straddled her hips, his weight holding her hips down while he leaned forward and tried to hold down her shoulders.

 

Jade yelped and tried to roll back onto her side so she could get into the fetal position. 

 

That's when Joseph jumped into the mix, he grabbed and held down her wrists preventing her from rolling. This was the first time he ever made physical contact with Jade, her skin was cool to the touch and he could feel what felt like an electric current coming from her causing his concentration to falter.  
With her uncuffed wrist free for a moment she lashed out at John, landing a punch to his nose. He reeled back for a before coming back down with one hand on her neck, the other went for his pocket were he withdrew a switchblade.

 

Joseph came back to reality moments later and was able to grab Jade's wrists and pin them down on the bed on either side of her head.

 

Jade's human self was now pretty stuck, and out of breath. She still avoided eye contact with Joseph, though she could feel his energy from where his large hands held her wrists. 

 

John glared down at her with mean eyes, his nose bleeding. He brought his knife up the the bottom hem of her shirt and cut halfway up the center toward her neck.

 

Jade gulped, as he stopped and repocketed his knife, he ripped open her shirt the rest of the way.

 

John's eyes traveled up her smooth stomach and paused over her bra and full breasts before making his way to the spot where he had tattooed her. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion, the hand that was around Jade's neck came down and ran over the smooth skin under her collar bones. His eye's shot up to meet Joseph, who had a strange look of awe and confusion. They both looked down at Jade who was smiling wickedly up at them.

 

John got off her and began pacing the floor angrily. "Hhh-How?!" He yelled loudly into the room. He opened the door and stomped out, leaving Joseph and Jade alone.

 

Joseph realized he still had his hands on Jade's wrists. His eyes began to dilate as he looked at her held under him, with her shirt open and her full breasts spilling out of the tops of her bra. Joseph began to feel his pants tighten, his lust scare burned- bringing him back to reality. He let go of her wrists, stood up quickly, cleared his throat and walked over to the sink and splashed some water on his face.

 

Jade sat back up quickly and tried to cover up by holding the sides of her shirt together. Joseph noticed and walked over, kneeling infront of her, looking over her face. "My child, you are perfect, you never have to hide from me."

 

Jade looked at the ground

 

Joseph put a hand on either side of her face and tilted her head up to look at him. She hadn't looked him in the eyes since the events that happened at the church. She jumped at the contact and resisted.

 

"Look at me." he said in a stern voice

 

Jade obeyed, her face was serious as her green eyes came up to meet his.

 

Eye contact was important to Joseph, he was usually able to read people easily by looking at their eyes. But with her, nothing. He stared at her, searching for answers before she looked away again.

 

Joseph sighed and let her go "I will be back in the morning" he said gently before leaving.

 

Jade finally had the room to herself, she felt strangely comforted that no one would be able to sneak up on her here and sleep quickly took her. 


	11. Chapter 11

Joseph walked up the stairs to the main floor of John's house to find John pacing back and forth in front of the large stone fireplace. "Brother John?"

 

"Joseph." John barely looked up from the floor

 

"I have many things to pray on. And things I need to attend to early, I will come here as soon as I am able. Have you spoke to Jacob or Faith yet about the deputy?"

 

"No. I thought it may be best if you were the one to fill them in"

 

"Try and get some rest John, we will work on the deputy tomorrow"

 

"Yes Joseph"

 

Joseph closed the front door behind him and made his way to his black suv where his driver was waiting. "Back to my compound please"

 

As they drove Joseph sank deep into thought. Weeks before they came to arrest him he had a vision:

_He stood at the top of a hill and surveyed the landscape around him. The Collapse had come and everything burned with God's righteous fire, he looked down to his feet and saw that the ground was soaked with blood, strewn around were lifeless bodies of both his followers and resistance members. He began to panic as he went and inspected the bodies, they had horrific injuries, this had not been done by the Collapse. Joseph followed the trail of bodies and heard the sound of a woman crying ahead, he began to run to try to find her. He found her knelt down by more torn apart bodies, she was completely naked and covered in blood. He slowly approached her with his hands out in front of him, trying not to convey to her that he meant no harm. She looked up at him in wild terror and spoke shakily "Jo- Joseph.. I- I- I- they were going to-"_

Joseph awoke in a cold sweat, his heart was racing and his breathing was heavy, he often awoke this way after he had visions. He tried to decipher what he saw but he could make no sense of it. But after tonight he was sure that the Deputy was infact the woman he saw crying covered in blood. He would remember those eyes anywhere.

 

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

Jade woke up to the sound of keys unlocking her cell. She sat up and hugged her knees to her chest, trying to cover her chest from the intruder. 

 

John walked in, his hair was slicked back, he had his blue shirt neatly tucked into his black jeans and his sleeves rolled up.

 

"Morning deputy"

 

"John. Your face is a little... swollen."

 

"Thank you for pointing that out- I got punched yesterday by a crazy person." They exchanged glares "I came in to remove your handcuffs so you could use the restroom before we begin" he reached into his pocket and removed the small key.

 

"Begin?"

 

"Why yes my dear" he undid the cuff that hooked to the frame, before backing out of reach and leaning against the door. "We have many things to discuss"

 

"Are we going to have tea?" Jade stretched her now free arm and stood up while he held her shirt together.

 

John flashed a wicked smile "Perhaps.. if you behave." He looked at her holding her ripped shirt.

 

Jade noticed John staring and angered "I will gouge out your fucking eyes" she hissed and gripped her shirt tighter.

 

John lunged at her, he spun her around and gripped her hands together behind her back and pinned her against the cold cement wall.

 

Jade sucked in a breath and stomped down hard onto John foot.

 

John yelled in anger and shoved her harder into the wall. He breathed into her hear "mmmm Deputy, your vigor only makes me harder, I will have you screaming 'yes' in no time" he bit at her ear before pulling away completely and leaving the room, locking the door behind him.

 

Jade leaned against the wall for a moment and shuddered before raking the wall with her nails in rage 'let it go.' she breathed 'don't phase, don't phase'. She looked toward the toilet and was hit with a flicker of horror, she looked around the perimeter of the room and sure enough- there was a camera and a speaker installed along the far wall of her cell. She glared up at it before taking her shirt all the way off and throwing it over the camera "John! I need a minute of privacy you perv!"

 

The speaker crackled and John's voice came through "you have 30 seconds"

 

30 seconds was barely long enough for her to do her business and quickly check on her tail, she was just doing up her pants when she heard the keys in the lock again. John came through the door.

 

"Ready?"

 

Jade crossed her arms over her chest to try and cover herself "How about a shirt!?"

 

"I'm not the one who decided to take my existing one off and get it stuck up there"

 

Jade's blood began to boil, she felt like steam could literally be seen rising from her.

 

"Turn around and put your hands behind your back, I need to recuff you to bring you out of your cell"

 

Jade complied and he walked up and cuffed her, then undid the shackle around her ankle. He spun her around with one hand on her cuffed hands and the other on her shoulder to guide her. He pushed her out of the room and towards another room down the hall. The new room was also concrete, there was a metal chair and a metal autopsy table along with a few large cages, off to the side was a tidy workbench and a large metal toolbox on wheels. 

 

John sat Jade in the metal chair, the cool metal felt good on her hot skin. He kept her hands cuffed behind her back and locked a heavy chain around her and the chair, securing her in place before taping her feet around the chair legs.

 

Jade looked down at the chains "Somebody has trust issues... Is this how you treat every woman?"

 

John chuckled "Ohh Deputy, you're not like every woman are you?" he turned and went to his tool box. "We must discuss your sins, you must atone-"

 

"Right. Wrath." Jade cut him off "tattoos don't exactly work little buddy.. Why don't we talk about your sins? I noticed you got some chicken scratch going on there on under the lock to your diary, SLOTH- You don't look much like a sloth.. is it because moths grow out of your back hair? do you only shit once a week!?"

 

John turned around and punched Jade square in the face, his own face was burning red. Jade's head hit the back of the chair and she saw stars. John remained facing her, he cocked his head "I was thinking the same thing about tattoo actually" he held up a scalpel, his smile was dark and filled with wrath of his own. "I'm going to cut it into you. And if you don't stay quiet, I will fit you with a ball gag"

 

Jade's heart began to race "I can guarantee you.. save you the trouble even. That scarring me won't work either".

 

"What did I say about staying quiet?" he turned around and began digging in a different drawer "Perfect" he pulled out a blue rubber gag with a black leather strap, he walked over and jammed the ball in her mouth and did up the strap around her head.

 

Jade bit down angrily on the gag, forever marking it the solid rubber

 

"Carving on your sin **will**  work". He pulled on a pair of latex gloves "Joseph insisted I wait for him to get here before we start. But I don't think I can.."


	12. Chapter 12

Jade sucked in air through her nose and bit down on the gag as John began to cut her, he was working on the same sensitive skin under her collar bones where he had tried to tattoo her before.

 

"Embrace the pain my dear, own your sin"

 

Jade knew pain, intimately. In her early years of phasing it was agony, feeling her bones break and change shape, to have her skin stretched and pulled, she shuddered at the thought and tried to push away the memories. The pain John was inflicting was doing nothing but hurt her pride.

 

John was just finishing up the H in WRATH when Jade heard quick footsteps coming down the hall toward the room they were in, John looked up as the door opened. The energy in the room shifted and Jade could feel panic coming from John.

 

"John! What have you done!?" Joseph was standing shirtless in the doorway. He was livid when he saw Jade. "Outside!" he yelled at John and pointed out the door. John got up quickly and scurried out the door. Jade could hear them talking in hushed tones down the hall.

 

John came back into the room first, he looked at the floor as he walked over to Jade and sat down.

 

Joseph came in next and walked over, he put his hands on either side of Jade's face and kissed her forehead. He smelled like the forest after the rain. "I'm so sorry for my brothers actions" he undid the leather strap to the gag and Jade spat out the ball. He looked over to John, "John, she must atone. But not like this. How many times have I told you that you must love them? If you cannot do this, the gates of Eden will be shut to you brother." He looked back to Jade, her left eye was already turning black from being punched by John earlier, the WRATH that had been cut into her soft skin was still bleeding, her bra was undoubtedly ruined by the collection of blood it had in it. She was filthy. "John, go make the preparations and find some fresh clothes".  
John stood up silently and walked out of the room. Joseph went to the tool bench returned with a bowl of clean water and a cloth. He undid the tape around Jade's legs and unlocked the chains around her body. He sat in John's chair and put the cloth in the water and brought it to Jade's chest and began to put some pressure on the fresh wounds.

 

Jade hissed at the cold water and looked Joseph in the eye wearily

 

He stopped and looked back at her, it was rare that she made eye contact with him. They sat looking at each other. "Deputy, I have to clean your wounds"

 

"Jade" she swallowed and looked at him "M-my name is Jade"

 

Joseph paused "Jade" he smiled and resumed dabbing the cool water on her chest.

 

Jade just watched, the cool water felt good against the burn of her cut flesh.

 

"Jade, what happened that night in the church?"

 

"I could ask you the same thing"

 

John came back from the door and clapped his hands together "Joseph, everything is set up."

 

"Set up?" Jade inquired

 

Joseph said nothing while he set the bowl down and stood up to help Jade out of the chair, her muscles ached from sitting on the hard surface so long. John turned and walked out of the room, Joseph walked behind Jade and guided her by the shoulder, down the familiar hallway and passing her room. 'wait. why were they passing it.' Jade began to panic and begin to resist.

 

"Shhhh Shhh Shh" Joseph cooed "You aren't staying down here anymore. You will be staying in the main house with John"

 

Jade stopped, her head spinning. "W-Why?"

 

"Because you are special to the project."

 

They continued up the stairs out of the basement onto the main floor, the house was bright with natural sunlight coming through big windows. Jade was guided to another set of stairs and into a large bedroom, it reeked of John's expensive cologne. They walked past the big bed and into the onsuite, it too was oversized. 'Why the hell were they all in here?' Jade wondered before John leaned into the shower and started it up.

 

"Alright Jade, John is going to wash you."

 

"Excuse me?" Jade nearly screamed began trying to back away quickly but only backed into Joseph's firm hold.

 

"I will be here to oversee"

 

"NO!"

 

"Jade, calm yourself, you need to be cleaned" Joseph undid her bra as John began to undo her cargo pants

 

"Please! I'll be good, let me do this alone!"

 

"We will take care of you, I promise"

 

Jade began to cry as she was held in place by Joseph

 

'They're going to kill me after they see my tail' Jade thought as she began to cry harder and spin her hips to loosen John's grip on her pants. It was no use. Down came her pants and she could feel the cool air on her bare legs.

 

John looked down and saw another belt, it was done up around her left thigh. He furrowed his eyebrows and stared at it for a moment, it didn't appear to hold any type of weapon, he brushed his fingers along it, causing Jade to jump.

 

Joseph was trying not to look at her bare form, already he was super sensitive from touching her this long and undoing her bra. Under his belly button the word LUST had been cut into him, it scarred long ago, but it burned when he was around Jade.

 

John looked Jade in the eye curiously as he held on to the belt around her leg. She looked back at him through teary eyes.  
He undid the belt and her tail instinctively sprang free, it hit Joseph right in the cock.

 

Joseph hissed and looked down quickly. His eyes widened behind his yellow tinted glassed. The tips of his fingers traced down her spine to the peaked triangle of russet coloured fur that grew before the base of her tail. Without looking away he spoke "John, leave us for a moment"

 

John's eyebrows furrowed and he walked out and closed the door behind him.

 

Joseph spun Jade around and looked her in the eye with a piercing stare

 

"Joseph, I-I'm sorry, I should have tol-" Jade began to back away

 

Joseph walked forward and put his hands on each said of Jade's face and looked her in the eye "Jade" he looked sad "When I told you that you needn't hide from me, I meant it. You are perfect" he brought his forehead down to hers

 

When their foreheads met they both saw a flash:

_The Collapse had come and the world was on fire Joseph and Jade stood hand in hand infront of a large open metal gate-_

 

Jade stood still and began crying again

 

Joseph opened his mouth in awe, he lifted his hand to his own forehead and stood for a moment before calling John back in.


	13. Chapter 13

John walked back into the bathroom to find a shocky Joseph and a crying Jade. "What happened in here?"

 

"John, I need the key for Jade's cuffs. She will be showing alone. Please wait downstairs."

 

"Are you sure?"

 

"Yes"

 

John shot a suspicious glance over at Jade before relinquishing the key and leaving the room.

 

"Why are you freeing me?" Jade asked in between sobs

 

"Because my child, I trust you. John has left you some clothes on the counter, please come downstairs when you are finished" Joseph walked up to Jade and she turned around for him to unlock the cuffs. As Joseph undid the handcuffs he gently touched the spot where her tail began "I never want you to hide again.." he took the cuffs and exited the room.

 

Jade rubbed at her sore wrists and stood infront of the mirror. She looked terrible, black eye, covered in blood, open wounds, red teary eyes. She walked into the big shower and let out a low moan at feeling the warm water on her body, this was her first shower in a very long time. 'Does John have enough skin and hair products in here!?' she ogled the 3 shower racks of products in search of simple soap and shampoo. Once found, she worked up a lather and washed herself thoroughly, she wasn't sure how often she'd get this luxury once Joseph had left. Next she washed her hair and her tail. It felt nice to not be covered in blood and sweat, she knew a quick phase would have this grusome cut taken care of- much to John's chagrin, she just wasn't sure when she'd get the opportunity.  
She turned off the shower and wrung out her tail, she began to towel off and get dressed in the clothes John had found her: fresh underwear, new bra, large black tshirt and some men's pajama pants. 

 

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As Jade showered Joseph walked down the stairs to meet John who was sitting on one of the black leather couches by the fireplace. He rose quickly when he saw Joseph.

 

"What's going on?"

 

"I realized last night when I left here, I had seen her in a vision weeks before they came to arrest me. Then just now- another. She is meant to be with the project, with me." Joseph still had a look of bewilderment on his face.

 

"You trust the deputy now?

 

"Her name is Jade... and yes, she is no threat to us. I'd like her to attend tomorrows sermon, maybe she'll agree to getting baptized"

 

"I have to get back to the flock, be good to her John." Joseph walked purposely toward the door "Oh and John.." he glanced back over his shoulder "she has a tail. Try not to stare, she's really skittish about it" 

 

John's eyebrows hit his hairline "a what now?" but Joseph was already gone.

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

Jade walked out of the onsuite into the large bedroom. It had to be John's. The wooden bedroom furniture all matched, it looked custom with hand carved details. The bed looked soft and plush with a dark blue duvet, there were a few large book cases that were filled with books on criminology and law, and there was a display cabinet filled with little model air planes. Jade bent down and was looking into the cabinet when she heard a cough behind her. She startled and stood up quickly to see John leaning against the door frame with a pleased grin on his face.

 

"John! You almost scared me to death!"

 

"Well you were taking forever so I came up here to find out why, you were snooping"

 

"I don't know what to say John, I guess that could because I don't know many grown men that still play with toys" she gestured to the cabinet.

 

"Agh, they aren't toys! They are scale models!" he rushed over and looked inside the cabinet as though she had hurt it's feelings.

 

"Ok. I get it. NOT toys." 

 

John stood up and motioned for Jade to follow him. They went down the stairs and John gestured for her to sit down on one of the leather couches "Joseph told me your name is Jade." he sat down beside her.

 

"Yeah"

 

"I've never seen you before. Are you new to Hope County?"

 

"No, not really. I just kinda came back. I hear you guys are new though."

 

"Yes, I suppose we are."

 

"Why here? What brought you to Hope County of all places?"

 

"Well Joseph mostly. God speaks to him. We call it The Voice, and well Joseph was told about The Collapse and where to go to begin preparing.."

 

"So just like that? You guys left whatever you all were doing and followed him because he claimed 'god' was speaking to him?"

 

"He saved me Jude. Before, I was living a life riddled with sin. I was a very successful lawyer in Atlanta, I had everything, could do anything. But my life was empty until I joined the project."

 

"That's a lovely story, I almost thought I saw a rainbow"

 

John grit his teeth. "So Jade... Are you hungry? We have a big day tomorrow."

 

"I'm always hungry. What's happening tomorrow??"

 

"I'm taking you to Joseph's compound for the day. He wants you to hear his sermon and consider getting baptized."

 

"Oh? I uh. Have other plans."

 

"What could you possibly have going on?" John walked into the kitchen, opened the fridge and began rummaging around.

 

"Well I planned on _not_ sinking into a coma.. or freezing in a river." 

 

"You're going. And you will wear the clothes I set out for you."

 

"Just a tad misogynistic...." Jade mumbled to herself

 

"What was that?"

 

"Uh, just a dab of mayo on a stick... That's how hungry I am.. I could just eat that." Jade face palmed herself

 

"Well I have something much better than mayo on a stick" John reentered the room with a 2 plates, each had a large sandwich and a salad. He handed one to her and sat down beside her.

 

"Thanks"

 

Jade had to remind herself how to eat in front of people. Normally she would have devoured it. But she had to be mindful of John's presence, not draw any extra attention to herself. They ate in silence.

 

Jade set her plate and untouched salad on the side table.

 

"You aren't finished yet my dear."

 

"Oh. I don't eat plants by themselves"

 

"Plants?" John raised an eyebrow and lowered his plate to his lap

 

"Err, vegetables" Jade tried to smile, but it just looked like she had gas.

 

"Well. Vegetables are important. This is a balanced diet household."

 

Jade pulled her plate back onto her lap with a sigh and stared at the salad. She swallowed hard. John sat and watched. She grabbed fork full and stuck it in her mouth, she bit the cherry tomato and nearly screamed. It was like biting an eyeball. Everything was so bitter. She tried to just swallow without chewing. She got through her salad that way.

 

"That was probably one of the weirdest things I have ever witnessed." he said monotone and stared forward. He stood up and took their plates to the kitchen and returned with a white book.

 

 

"This is the word of Joseph, I'm going to read it to you." He opened the book and began reading.

 

Jade watched John as he read, his voice wasn't terrible and he was nice to look at now that he wasn't torturing her. His eyes were a rich colour of blue, behind them Jade could see deep personal pain- maybe that's why he enjoyed harming others. His hair was slicked back and his beard neatly trimmed. He wore one of his usual blue shirts unbuttoned down his chest to his etched SLOTH scar and around his neck was a leather cord that held a single key. He had nice sized hands, they were covered in tattoos much like both his arms. Jade could feel herself becoming drowsy.

 

_Jade sat on the black leather couch beside John, John was reading and she was getting bored. She put her hand on John's thigh and slowly began making her way up towards his crotch. His breathing hitched as she touched his inner thigh, he was determined to not give in to her. She laid her head down on his leg as she rubbed at his hard on through his jeans. She was having the desired effect on John, his cock began to ache behind the confines of the thick denim. He set the book down and leaned his head back and let out a moan as she began to palm at him harder. She bit his thigh in_ _response and began to undo his big belt buckle._

 

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John was reading away when he looked over and saw Jade teetering in and out of sleep. He was frustrated, he had only been reading for 10 minutes! His frustration turned into arousal when she slumped over to the side and landed with her head in his lap. 'oh nonnononononooooo' he thought as he set the book down and tried not to disturb her. Her skin was pale against her dark hair, he lightly traced the shape of her pointed ear with his index finger, she was actually quite beautiful. He continued to look over her sleeping form, the clothes he had found her were big on her small form, her feet didn't even poke out of the pant legs. Then he saw her tail. She had cut a hole for it to poke out of in the back of the pajama pants. Her tail twitched in her sleep, he was utterly fascinated, it was the same colour as the hair on her head except for the tip where it was slightly darker. He wanted to pull on it as he sunk his cock into her from behind. Jade let out a soft moan in her sleep, John bucked his hips and almost came right there. 

 

Jade awoke from the sudden movement and froze. She knew the smell of John's cologne. Were these legs? .... It took her a moment to realize she had fallen asleep in John's lap. She stood up quickly, her face went red, she looked at John wide eyed, and began backing up until she tripped backwards over the edge of the coffee table and sent a lamp flying.

 

"I.. ah-..."

 

"Your room is up the stairs across from mine..." John sighed and pointed up the stairs. He leaned forward and rested his head on his hand as he watched her scuttle up the stairs with her tail tucked between her legs. He couldn't help but chuckle.

 

Jade made it to her room and closed the door before flopping face down onto the bed. Her face burned with embarrassment. Her pride stung and her cuts itched. She was uncomfortable to say the least. The clock on the bedside table read 11:30pm, she needed to phase, she needed to run and to heal these cuts. She wondered what time John went to bed. She could still see faint light from downstairs so she waited and dozed off again. Jade woke again, 3:40am. The house was dark, should be good. She stripped out of her clothes and slithered out of her room and down the stairs, the front door was right ahead- her tail flicked with excitement, with an outstretched hand she undid the locks. A cough sounded from behind her. She spun around to see John shirtless but still in his jeans- bastard must have fallen asleep on the couch.  

 

"Do you often run off naked?" he asked with a raised eyebrow

 

"Don't look at me!"

 

"You are in my home dearest, and in quite the predicament" he stalked forward and reached around Jade to relock the door. "I knew you'd try something"

 

"I was going to come back!"

 

"Right." John had her boxed into a corner

 

"I just needed to get out and go for a run, I couldn't sleep"

 

"Naked?"

 

"Can we not dwell on the nudity?"

 

"Mmm kind of hard not to" He leaned forward and kissed at her neck

 

Jade gasped and brought her hands up to John's chest. "I'll go back to bed!" she sunk down and ducked under his arm and went back up the stairs.

 

"Are you sure? We could exercise naked together!" John said after her. Her door slammed shut.

 

Jade screamed into her pillow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> things are starting to happen!


	14. Chapter 14

Morning came with a gentle knock on Jade's door, startling her out of her light sleep.

 

"Deputy?" came a man's voice

 

"Uh hi?"

 

"Good morning, I'm one of John's day guards. I was told to wake you and give you some clothes? I'll be driving you 20 minutes."

 

"Oh. Right. Where's John?"

 

"He had business to take care of. He said he would meet you at Joseph's compound"

 

"Thanks"

 

Jade was relieved that John wasn't there, she was still embarrassed about their encounter earlier. She got up and stretched as she made her way to the door to retrieve the clothes John had left for her. A hanger was left on her doorknob with a note:

_Jade._   
_You will look stunning in this, I'll be watching for you._   
_John_

 

Jade groaned as she pulled a knee high mint green dress off the hanger. 'A fucking dress?! I don't think so mr' She went to her closet and hung the dress up. She went back to the door and peeked out, the coast was clear, she was still naked as she snuck across the hall into John's room. 

 

She went to John's dresser and pulled out a fresh pair of boxer briefs, and some jeans. 'Does this man not own any tshirts!?' she continued rummaging through the dresser. Bottom drawer. 'Ah ha!' she pulled one out victoriously, with it came a little tin box. Jade picked it up inquisitively and opened it, she knew immediately what it was- 'Oh Johnny boy, not so perfect are you? You gotta hide your weed from big boy Jo..' she set the little box on top of the dresser as she got dressed. The boxers were perfect! She put them on backwards and pulled her tail through the flap and laughed, she had to cut a hole in the jeans though- she didn't shed a single tear for John as she cut through the expensive denim. Once dressed she grabbed a joint out of the little tin box and shoved the tin back into the bottom drawer of John's dresser and walked out cheerfully. 

 

Jade looked at the clock down in the kitchen, 5 minutes. She opened the fridge and found a 4 raw steaks and a chicken breast on a plate, she pulled them out and looked around cautiously before she dove into the plate of raw meet. Once complete she washed her hands, checked her face and was out the door toward a white peggie truck that was already running, she opened the truck door and hopped into the passenger seat. 

 

"Good morning deputy"

 

"Good morning-" Jade clicked hear seat belt, put her feet up on the dash and rolled up her pant legs, John's pants were quite long on her. "You uh have a lighter on you by chance?"

 

"Yes actually I do?" the driver handed Jade his lighter

 

"Thanks" Jade pulled out the joint from her pocket, lit it and handed the lighter back to the driver.

 

He stared at Jade. "Deputy? We aren't allowed to-"

 

"Want some?" Jade handed him the joint and he took it slowly and raised it up to his mouth, he took a large toke and let his head fall back against the seat. "I haven't smoked in years. I've missed it so much" he handed it back to Jade.

 

"Yeah me too"

 

They set off towards Joseph's compound. A few more puffs each and Jade snuffed out the joint and tossed the butt, they rolled all the windows down to try and air out the truck as they went.

 

"Deputy? Those don't really look like the clothes that I set on your door this morning"

 

"Yeah... I don't wear dresses. I think John might shit when he see's me."

 

"I wish I could stay and watch"

 

"I'll tell you about it later" Jade winked at him

 

They arrived at Joseph's shortly after. John was outside leaning on the front gate waiting for Jade. She saw him and took a deep breath.

 

"Deputy?"

 

"Yeah?"

 

"You'll do great in there."

 

"That's the weed talking. I guess I'll see you around... if I survive." Jade smiled as she hopped out of the truck and made her way toward John.

 

"Jade."

 

"Hey John"

 

"Are those my clothes?" John brought his hand up to his face

 

Jade spun around to try to look at her own back, making sure John saw her tail through the hole she cut "Oh these? I don't know, I just found them. 

 

"those were $300 jeans" he pinched the bridge of his nose and tried not to blow up.

 

Jade laughed "you know what else I discovered? Men's underwear are perfect for my tail!"

 

John went rigid "Y-you're wearing my underwear?"

 

"I suppose I am" she tried to sound shocked

 

"Jade-"

 

A man hollered from outside of the church "John! Joseph is about to start" John looked over at him and waved, he looked back at Jade, growled and grabbed her arm roughly and led her to the church.   
It was the same church where Jade had first met Joseph when they came to arrest him. She couldn't believe how full it was. Her and John had to sit at the back, she was relieved she was near the door if she needed to leave. It wasn't long before Joseph saw them and smiled. His eyes locked onto Jade immediately and she felt herself begin to sweat. They sat and the sermon began. John furrowed his eyebrows and sniffed at the air.. He glanced over at Jade, put his hand on her thigh and squeezed before he leaned over and whispered "Is that marijuana?"

 

Jade began to sweat even more "where?"

 

"coming from you" John hissed

 

"that's nonsense, this is a church!"

 

Joseph coughed and looked over at John. She could feel the heat coming from John and as he squeezed her thigh tighter and let go.

 

The sermon carried on uneventfully, Jade fought to stay awake. Finally it ended, people began to leave and resume their duties around the compound. Joseph still stood at the front talking with members of his flock. 

 

Jade looked over at John who was still sitting back in the pew, he looked like he was lost in thought and not paying much attention to her, maybe she could sneak out of here. She slowly began to slide down the pew away from him, slowly she stood up and turned about to take a step into the isle.

 

"Where are you sneaking off to?" John grabbed her tail and yanked her back beside him

 

"Ouch! You fucker!"

 

Joseph looked over at John and cleared his throat.

 

"Listen you-" John whispered "you are going to get me in all sorts of trouble. Joseph has requested the family meets for dinner tonight at my house. You will behave, you will wear _your_ clothes, and you will not smell like marijuana. You are staying here with Joseph for the day while I get some stuff done and marinate the steaks for dinner."

 

"Steaks... You haven't gotten them yet have you?"

 

"No they are already in the fridge"

 

"Not anymore" Jade gulped and looked at John with a weak smile

 

John held his head in his hands and leaned on his knees "When did you have time to prepare that much food?"

 

"Flamethrower... on my way out this morning" she lied

 

"Oh my god. You are going to be the death of me"

 

The church emptied and Joseph walked over to wear they were sitting, "Ah Jade, glad you made it, what did you think of the sermon?"

 

She had hardly heard a damn word "It was good."

 

Joseph smiled and looked over to John "I will take Jade from here, we will return to your ranch this evening"

 

Jade stood and went with Joseph, he showed her briefly around the compound. The little individual cabins for each deadly sin, new members stayed in them as a sort of detox from the real world before joining the main flock. Next they went to a little house behind the church, there were bliss flowers growing up and along the white picket fence that went around the perimeter. He opened the door for her and they went in. 

 

The interior of the house was cozy and it smelled strongly of Joseph, she loved his smell. 

 

"Can I get you anything?" he asked politely as he walked into the little kitchen area and poured himself a glass on ice tea from the fridge.

 

"I'm alright, thanks"

 

"Let me know if you change your mind." he took off his glasses and set them on the counter "Please have a seat- he gestured to the couch"

 

Jade sat and Joseph soon followed

 

"Are you wearing John's clothes?" 

 

Jade blushed, she wasn't sure why she was having this reaction "Yeah, he wanted me to wear a dress.."

 

"Dresses are nice"

 

"On other people, sure"

 

Joseph smiled at Jade's stubbornness "What would you like to do today?"

 

"Honestly, I could really use a nap. I didn't sleep well last night"

 

"You are welcome to rest here my child, would you like me to read to you?"

 

"Really? That would be great"

 

Jade layed down and rested her head on Joseph's thigh facing him "Is this ok?"

 

Joseph's took a deep breath and he set one his hands on her shoulder "Yes"

 

Jade closed her eyes and breathed in the comforting smell of Joseph as his calming voice took her off to sleep.

 

Joseph sat quietly and watched Jade sleep. She looked so fragile, he wondered what she dreamed of as she lightly twitched as she slept. After a while her face twisted and she began to cry "no please" She mumbled and continued crying. Joseph looked down at her concerned as he gently rubbed her head. "don't look at me Joseph" she mumbled and tucked her tail between her legs, still asleep. He looked at her with sad eyes "my child" he said gently as he pulled her up onto his lap and cradled her. She woke briefly and nuzzled her face into the crook of Joseph's neck and lightly purred. Joseph fell asleep a little while later and the 2 slept peacefully into the afternoon. 

 

Jade woke first and realized she was in Joseph's lap. He looked to be sound asleep, she wondered if she could possibly move without waking him.. doubt it. Joseph was warm and didn't snore so Jade didn't mind watching him, he looked so relaxed. He was actually quite handsome now that she had a chance to look at him without him staring back at her. She shifted in his lap trying to get comfortable. Joseph groaned at her movement and moved his hips, Jade froze and an unfamiliar coil in her stomach tightened. She had to get off his lap, she was beginning to panic as Joseph grew hard beneath her. She looked up and found that he was now awake and looking at her, he repositioned her so that she was straddling his lap facing him. He rested his hands on her hips "I'm glad to see you are no longer hiding" one hand reached around and brushed through the hair on her tail. Jade blushed and looked down at Joseph's chest. He had a number of scars and tattoos that marked his toned body, she ran her finger tips lightly over the raised scar under the sparrow tattoo on his right side 'SLOTH'. 

 

"Who did this to you?"

 

"I asked John to"

 

Jade reached out and touched the scar on his left bicep, 'GREED'. "And this one?"

 

"I did that one" he watched her eyes for her reaction

 

Jade reached down in between them and lightly traced the letters on the scar 'LUST' just above his large belt buckle. Joseph's breathing hitched and he shuddered beneath her. She liked how his body reacted to her touch. She looked up to meet his gaze, his pupils were blown, he pulled at the collar to her shirt and ran a finger gently over the healing 'WRATH'. She unconsciously settled her hips down further on his lap as he inspected her cut. When their bodies made contact Joseph hissed and his hips bucked forward involuntarily. Jade let out a soft moan when she felt how hard he was against her, Joseph raised one of his hands to the back of her head and crashed his mouth onto hers. Jade saw stars as their lips met, she quickly returned the kiss with equal fever making Joseph growl and raise his hips to hers. She was becoming light headed and broke away from him, they were both flush in the face and panting. 

 

Joseph captured her mouth in his again and began to rock her hips against his. Jade began to panic, she couldn't do this, she couldn't get involved with people. She was a monster.. destined to exile.

 

She broke the kiss again and put her hands against Joseph's chest and tried to push herself off his lap. "Joseph, I-I cant... I don't know what came over me" she began to cry

 

"Shh shh, I'm sorry, I overstepped" Joseph tried to comfort her 

 

Jade stood up quickly and backed toward the door, her phase was now immanent "I have to leave"

 

Joseph reached out and grabbed her hand "No, I can't lose you. Only I can save you!"

 

"No you can't! I'm a monster Joseph!" her tears flowed down her cheeks as she spun out of Joseph's hold and bolted out the door.

 

Joseph tried to chase after her but she was small and nimble, she easily lost him after she slipped through a crowd of people and disappeared into the surrounding forest outside of the compound.

 

Joseph picked up his radio and turned to Jacob's frequency "Jacob?"

 

"Yes brother?" Jacob gruffed, he sounded like he had been sleeping.

 

"I need your help. I lost the deputy, I need you to track her and return her to us. Alive. She is vital to the project"

 

"I'll be there within the hour with some of my hunters"

 

Joseph hooked his radio back to his belt and stared at the ground... 'A monster?' 

 


	15. Chapter 15

Jade ran, her heart was beating out of her chest as she stripped out of the clothes she took borrowed from John. She fell onto the forest floor with a grunt, her naked form twisted and grew. Her phases were becoming even quicker, she looked back at the pile of shed clothing, she wanted to gather the material but she heard people coming. Joseph had no doubt sent a search party, and they were on her tail. Jade took off deeper into the forest at a full run, quickly increasing the gap between her and the pursuing peggies.

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Joseph paced around the compound waiting for Jacob to return. Jacob had shown up to his compound and set out tracking Jade with some of his best hunters. 

 

'How could I let this happen?' Joseph felt sick as he kicked at the dirt and pinched the bridge of his nose. The hunting party had been gone for almost 3 hours now... his radio crackled to life

 

"Joseph?"

 

"Jacob. Any luck?"

 

"We haven't found her, but we found signs of her. I'm on my way back right now"

 

30 minutes later Joseph could hear Jacob's jeep approaching the compound, he walked out to the front gate to meet him. Jacob parked and Joseph got into the passenger seat.

 

"So?"

 

"We found a pile of clothing and marks in the ground that indicated there was a struggle..."

 

"Jade...." Joseph's heart sunk.

 

"There wasn't any blood or anything. But we did finds tracks. Big wolf tracks."

 

"So she got stripped and abducted by a giant wolf?! Jacob! This doesn't make any sense!"

 

"That's why I had to come here and tell you myself. We can't figure it out either. And if it was an animal- something that big would be likely make good time, and if no one was watching the bridges it could have made it off your island. Then your deputy could be anywhere."

 

"I want everyone looking. But nobody goes out alone or without a radio, especially if you say we have a large animal lurking around"

 

"I'll let my men know and I'll radio in for air support. Joseph- don't do anything stupid"

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

2 days had passed since Jade fled Joseph's compound and she found herself actually missing him, his smell, his energy, she felt hopeless as she wandered through the forest. She had nothing but the fur on her back, she had failed. As she wandered she came across an abandoned look out, it had been vandalized by the cult and the scavenged remains of a few bodies laid around the base level. She would stay here for the night, she walked up the stairs and into the small room and found that all the radio equipment was still intact. Maybe she could reach Fall's End. Jade quickly phased back to human before toying with the radio, she clicked on and spoke:

 

"Fall's End, this is Rook, please come in"

 

"Rook!"

 

"Mary May. It's great to hear your voice."

 

"Where are you!?"

 

"I'm not sure to be honest. I ran from Joseph."

 

"We know, he's got the cult turning up every rock looking for you. Killings have gone sky high"

 

"That was never my intention"

 

"I know that Rook, you should know that The Resistance is now looking for your head aswell. Wanting justice you know.. Somebody to blame."

 

Jade's blood began to boil "I never wanted to get involved with any of this Mary May!"

 

"Easy now, maybe if you join in on the raid, they will accept you back"

 

"What raid?"

 

"A party is headed out after Joseph in all this chaos"

 

"I have to go"

 

"Don't tell them I told you"

 

Jade shook her head and phased back, 'Stupid woman can't keep a secret to save her life'.. She had to get back to Joseph, she promised herself that she would only observe unless he was in trouble. She couldn't believe her friends and comrades had turned on her... They were lower on her list now than the peggies. The anger that boiled in her only fueled her to power through the sore muscles and aching lungs. Once she got her head screwed on straight and oriented herself, she realized she was only about an hour away. She maneuvered methodically through the forest and eventually came upon the Silver Lake that surrounded Joseph's island. The bridge was covered in peggies so she decided to swim across to the east side, the water was cold as she waded in quietly. She paddled across and shook off before carrying on toward the compound, once she got within earshot she was finally able to take a breath. Things were calm as peggies walked around doing their nightly rounds. 'I wonder if they found the clothes I left? Maybe I could change and warn Joseph'. She found her way to the spot where she had abandoned John's clothes a couple days before. She could smell that people had been there, the clothes were gone- Jade sighed and sat down against a tree.

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Joseph tried to keep busy with things around his compound as the days passed. Jacob and his hunters still had no luck tracking Jade or the wolf. Each night as the sun went down he said a silent prayer for her, that she would be safe and warm. He couldn't sleep and spent the nights pacing or reading, he had to do something, maybe Jacob had missed some key detail at the scene where Jade had vanished. Maybe The Voice would speak to him there, he opened his front door and ducked out into the night toward the forest.

 

He flicked on his flashlight once he made it into the treeline, he followed the trampled down path that was made from all the people going in and searching. He walked until he came upon a boot, it was Jade's.

 

Jade heard someone walking in the forest and spotted the beam from a flashlight. She crouched in some bushes and observed, the light came closer she sniffed at the air- it was Joseph, she could smell his earthy aroma dancing through the cool night air. She closed her eyes peacefully and took in the smell.

 

Joseph knelt down and picked up the boot, he looked around at the dirt around him- Jacob was right, it did look like a fight happened here. Then he spotted one of the giant foot prints, it was nearly as large as his own. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle up as he turned quickly and shone the flashlight into the dark forest around him.

 

Jade hunkered down lower into the bush as the beam from the flashlight darted around the forest. Joseph's words rang through her head 'My child, you never have to hide from me'. What did she have to lose? He was only one person. She squeezed her eyes shut before she slowly moved out of the bushes. Joseph was standing with his back to her, she moved quickly and picked him up- she placed one hand swiftly over his mouth to muffle any kind of noise he may make. He fought her at first and yelled into her thick paw. She stood just holding him up until he calmed, realizing he wasn't being hurt. She set him down gently and turned him to face her, she held a finger up to his mouth and made a shhhh noise to signal him to be quiet. He stood rigidly as she handed him back his flashlight.

 

The forest was pitch black aside from the beam from his flashlight, something large had grabbed him, set him back down, shushed him, and handed him back his flashlight. Joseph slowly looked up before moving the beam of his flashlight, the figure that stood before him was taller than he was, it breathed quietly as it watched him, he could feel it's gaze. He slowly moved the flashlight to get a look and his mouth fell open as he took in the sight of her. He slowly continued to look up her body until he reached her eyes.

 

"J-Jade?" he whispered and slowly reached out a hand

 

She nodded and licked his outstretched hand

 

Joseph just stared with a look of wonder in his eye "You're incredible" he finally said "I- we- we have to tell Jacob, come with me... please?"

 

Jade closed her eyes and nodded

 

Joseph grabbed his radio from off his hip "Jacob?"

 

"Still no luck out here Joseph"

 

"I found her"

 

"You what?"

 

"Please return to my compound and come to the house. Just you."

 

"I'm on my way back"

 

He returned his radio to his belt "Jade..." he looked over with a gentle smile "God has returned you to me"

 

Jade was glad Joseph couldn't see her blushing through her fur.

 

"Will you guide us back to the compound? I don't want to use the flashlight"

 

Jade nodded and Joseph turned off the flashlight. Jade gently grabbed Joseph's hand and placed it on her tail do she could lead him through the dark. Jade was proud when she made it to the treeline along the compound, Joseph hadn't tripped once!

 

He stepped in front of her "I'll go ahead of you and clear a path to my house. Wait until I signal for you" Joseph stepped out of the forest and made his was to the gate where some peggies where standing watch. "Good evening my children, I was alerted to some activity near the docks, would you round up some men and check it out?"

 

"Yes Father"

 

The men took off and Joseph waved for Jade. She stepped cautiously out of the trees and made her way to Joseph, they moved silently through the compound and made it to Joseph's house. He opened the door for her and she ducked inside, he followed her in, locked the door and closed the blinds before turning some lights on. Joseph stood in awe of Jade as the light revealed her to him, her dark coat, her lean body, strong muscles and piercing green eyes. She stood awkwardly under his gaze, she looked toward the couch and cocked her head.

 

"Yes of course, please sit" Joseph gestured toward the couch.

 

Jade carefully made her way over to the piece of furniture, thankfully Joseph's little place had high ceilings. She sat down and looked at the coffee table, she picked up the tiny pencil and began to write on the blank pad of paper: _change?_ she held it up for Joseph to read

 

"Only if you want to. I'm still quite curious about this shape though, Jacob will be too."

 

A light knock sounded at the door and Jade perked her ears.

 

"Jacob"

 

Joseph walked to the door and opened it a sliver before slipping out to meet Jacob. "You have to leave your weapon out here"

 

"Why does it matter?"

 

"She's untrusting, just set it in this flower pot, it's not going anywhere"

 

Jacob growled and did as he was told

 

Joseph opened the door and walked in followed by his older brother. Jacob also had to duck through the door, once inside he stood up straight and froze. "Joseph."

 

"Jacob.... This is Jade"

 

"lycanthrope... only heard the myths, I've searched but never found anything..." Jacob stood wide eyed staring at Jade.

 

Jade began writing on the paper again: _never seen others_

 

Joseph sat beside Jade on the couch and Jacob sat across from them on a fold out chair he grabbed from the closet.

 

"Jade? Why did you return? You were free" Joseph asked

 

Jade began scribbling on the paper:  _Resistance coming_

 

Joseph looked at Jacob "We don't have enough people here, where did you hear this? When?"

 

Jade looked down and shook her head. Communicating this way was frustrating to no end. She stood up and moved the coffee table out of the way and came down to her knees, she looked over to Joseph and smiled a weird wolfy smile. She started to phase. Joseph and Jacob both stood up in panic as she writhed on the ground and began change shape, they heard her bones pop as they rearranged to form her human shape. Jade was left naked kneeling on the ground, covered in sweat as the 2 men tried to process what they just saw. Joseph grabbed the blanket off the back of the couch wrapped it around Jade and helped her to her feet. "It's easier to talk this way" she smiled and began to pace while fully wrapped in the large blanket, dragging some of it behind her. "I found an abandoned radio and tuned into the Fall's End frequency where that ditz Mary May was quite willing to tell me about the Resistance's plans for attack. She neglected to say when though." She huffed and rubbed her head "That snake also said that now they are hunting me because of your guys' little freak out while I was missing!"

 

Jacob began to laugh

 

"What's so funny over there tall boy?"

 

"You're just so small and angry!" he continued laughing

 

Joseph looked angry and he sat deep in thought.

 

"I better get going, I'll send for more guards down here to watch over you Joseph. And you- " he pointed at Jade "You and I are going to sit down and have a long talk one day" Jacob stood up and walked out the door.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and for your guys' support!

Joseph stood and walked over to Jade and wrapped her in a strong hug. "Why didn't you tell me?"

 

Jade rested her head on his chest "because 'hey I can turn into a 7ft tall killing machine' doesn't usually go over well with most people."

 

Joseph sighed and put a knuckle under her chin to get her to look at him "You never have to hide again"

 

Jade stared back at Joseph and she could feel her nose prickle as tears pooled in her eyes. She reached up and wrapped her arms around Joseph's neck, she stood on her tip toes and pulled Joseph into a kiss. They kissed slowly at first, Joseph moved his hands down to Jade's hips as their kissing became more passionate. Joseph licked her bottom lip, she welcomed his tongue with her own as they explored each others mouths. Joseph broke off and moved to kissing down the side of her neck, Jade moaned and dropped the blanket that was covering her naked body. 

 

Joseph ghosted his hands down her frame to grab her butt and pull her against him, his cock ached, he let out a deep groan when their bodies met. Jade whimpered when she felt how hard Joseph was for her, she reached down and tried to undo his belt, he quickly caught her wrists, she looked up at him confused and his eyes were dark with lust. "I want to savor this" he said before returning to sucking on her neck, moving his way down to her collar bones and shoulder. 

 

Joseph suddenly paused and moved his fingers slowly over the place where John had cut the word 'WRATH' into her flesh. He looked down and nothing was there. Much like the tattoo, it had vanished.

 

Jade looked up at him and was met with a confused look. 

 

Jade looked at him innocently "Every time I phase, I get new skin... So tattoo, scars, ect never last" she began to blush feeling self conscious under his intense gaze

 

"Incredible..." he whispered in disbelief. 

 

Joseph picked her up suddenly and she wrapped her legs around his waist with a playful squeal. He smiled and carried her to his bedroom and set her on the bed and crawled over her. He crashed his mouth down onto hers and slid a hand down her body and in between her thighs, he groaned when he found how wet she was already "Is this for me?" he purred against her lips. Jade blushed shyly. His skilled fingers ran over her entrance and gathered slick to move up to her clit. Joseph's hands on her felt hot and cold at the same time, she gasped and bucked when he made contact with her the sensitive bundle of nerves. He kissed down her neck and over her chest before placing gentle kisses on her breasts and licking circles around her nipples. Jade cried out when he took one of her nipples into his mouth and flicked his tongue against it. 

He continued killing down her stomach and made his way to her clit to replace his hand. "I will never go hungry at your table" he spoke into her as he stuck his tongue into her entrance and licked up to her clit before sucking it into is mouth. Jade whimpered and grabbed at his head "Joseph...." she panted "I need you... Please"

 

Joseph rose from the bed and undressed, he climbed back over Jade and kissed her. She could taste herself on him and it only excited her more, Jade ground up against him as they kissed, she needed the friction. Joseph sat back on his haunches and stroked himself, as he looked over Jade flushed and spread out before him. "Touch yourself" he said firmly, and she complied. He watched intently as her hand went between her legs and began rolling her clit between her fingers, he groaned loudly when she slipped 2 fingers in and brought them up to her mouth to lick.   
Joseph's cock was dripping precum as he lined himself up with Jade, he grabbed his cock and slid the head over her clit causing Jade to buck. He couldn't take it anymore, he need to be inside her. He slipped the head inside her and slowly eased in, allowing for her to adjust to his size, once he was fulled seated in her he paused to collect himself before beginning to move within her. Joseph filled her perfectly, his cock was slightly longer than average and quite thick. Jade thrust up to meat him "You fit me so well Jade" he said before quickening the pace, their skin smacked together loud enough to disturb the elderly. 

 

"Joseph... I'm close" Jade could feel the heat building in her stomach. She could tell Joseph was too, his thrusts had started to become erratic.

 

"Cum for me" Joseph panted as her thrust into her

 

Jade came crying Joseph's name, her walls clamped down around Joseph causing him to spill his hot cum inside her.

 

Joseph stayed seated in her, her aftershocks continued to milk him. She whimpered when he eventually pulled out of her, he laid beside her and wrapped her in his arms, they were both still out of breath as they lay together enjoying the waves of their bliss.


	17. Chapter 17

Consciousness returned to Jade as she lay in Joseph's arms, he was warm and breathing softly as he slept. She looked over at the clock on the dresser- 4am. She could stay like this with Joseph forever, this 'enemy' had become so important to her, he was someone she was comfortable being herself around and for the first time- she felt free. She knew The Resistance was coming and she would not let anything happen to Joseph, the thought of losing him scared her.

 

She rolled over to face him, she ran a hand gently over the side of his face to tuck some stray hairs behind his ear. 

 

Joseph opened his eyes and smiled lightly "I was worried that you would be gone when I woke" he held her hand and kissed her fingers. Jade blushed, and kissed him. Their mouths moved together, escalating quickly, Jade broke off and moved to Joseph's jawline and neck, he groaned in approval as she lightly nipped as she trailed down, her fingers danced along the raised skin of his scars. 

 

Jade crawled over Joseph and moved a hand down to his already erect member and began to lightly stoke him as she nipped and licked at his abdomen. She backed further down his legs so she could lick the 'LUST' scar over his pelvis, Joseph growled and grabbed at Jade's hair. 

 

His sudden roughness sent heat right between her legs and only made her more determined to rile him up. Instead of licking at the scar she began to suck and nip, he bucked into her hand and tightened the grip he had in her hair. She licked down toward his pant line and nipped him again, she could tell he was beginning to lose patience as he squirmed under her.

 

Jade stopped moving her hand on his cock and moved it to his balls where she began to lightly massage his testicles as she slowly sucked and nipped at the inside of his thighs. "Jade, please..." Joseph panted. She complied and licked a line up the underside of his cock from his balls to the tip before swirling her tongue around the leaking head. She began to bob her head as she took more of him into her mouth, he cried out and bucked his hips when she began to suck.

 

"Jade... I'm close, please, I want to be inside you" Joseph pulled Jade up and kissed her hard. Jade ground her slick entrance against his cock as they kissed, she needed the friction. He rolled her on her side so her back was against his chest, she wiggled her ass against his cock and he throbbed against her.

 

"You like to tease..." Joseph panted and pushed into her from behind making her moan at the sudden fullness. He began to thrust into her right away, Jade arched her back and pushed back into him as he slammed into her. Joseph reached around to Jade's clit and began pinching and rubbing it, Jade cried out and grabbed a handful of the sheets "Joseph! I'm so close!" He reached with his other hand to grab her tail and pulled her hard against him, there was no space between them as he plunged into her for the final time and came deep within her. Her walls gripped and held him tightly within her, they both came in mess of moans and cries. 

 

"Joseph?"

 

"Yes?" Joseph kissed her shoulder

 

"Is the world really ending?"

 

"It is, but it will be born anew for us and those worthy of walking through Eden's Gate"

 

"I-I saw it... Well, you actually showed it to me. Before I returned to Hope County I encountered you in a dream where you showed me what's coming.. the world was on fire. You told me that 'only you could save me'.." 

 

"The Voice showed you the very same vision that It showed me all those years ago... Jade... God has sent you to me, all my years of dedication and sacrifice, you are my reward. We will walk through Eden's Gate together and form the new world." 

 

"I'm scared Joseph, when is this going to happen?" 

 

Joseph hugged Jade closer to him "It has begun, there are signs- seals that will be opened, all leading to the 7th.. 'When the Lamb opened the 7th seal there was silence in heaven and the 7 angels before God were given 7 trumpets and there were noises- thundering, lightning…and I heard a great voice from the temple say to the angels…go your ways…and pour from the vials…the wrath of God upon the Earth'. That is why we've built bunkers and gathered food and supplies"

 

"How long will the world burn for?"

 

"7 years"

 

Jade felt panic begin to rise within her. 7 years. Locked underground. No running, or hunting, or forests, or grass... She jumped out of Joseph's bed and ran to the bathroom where she threw up, she started the shower and crawled under the ice cold water. She heard Joseph come after her-

 

"Jade? What's wrong" he pulled back the shower curtain to find Jade sitting on the floor of the shower with her knees pulled into her chest under the spray of water.

 

"I-I can't live underground for 7 years Joseph... I need room to roam around and fresh air..." She was visibly shivering now.

Joseph hissed at the cold when he stepped into the shower and sat against her so his body was flush with hers and wrapped his arms around her. "I know it's going to be a big adjustment, for all of us. But the alternative is death, and I won't let that happen to you. I'll do whatever it takes to make you comfortable down there. Treadmills? Scenery painted on the walls? A room of stuff for you to wreck? Anything." he kissed the back of her neck. "Why cold water?"

 

"It's supposed to be good for killing panic, and a persons soul if you ask me..." she reached forward and twisted the dial to warm up the water. 

 

They sat that way for a while before they stood up and washed each other. Joseph got out and went to get dressed, Jade walked into the bedroom wrapped in a towel and found Joseph in his tight black pants adjusting his manbun. 

 

"Judging by your usual lack of clothes I'm guessing you don't have any extra laying around for me to throw on" Jade mused

 

"I may have an extra shirt and some underwear" He dug around through the closet and tossed her a clean shirt. "There is all sorts of extra clothing in the compound, I'll go grab you some stuff" he slipped on his boots, kissed her on the cheek and dashed out the door.

 

Jade finished drying off, put on the shirt Joseph gave her and wandered into the small kitchen to start preparing them breakfast. She had her head in the fridge when she heard engines. Boats? Yelling? no, screaming... Gun fire! She looked out the front window and saw armed peggies running toward the docks

 

"It's the Resistance! They're coming in from the docks!"

 

"They just made it past the bridge too! Radio the others!"

 

"There aren't enough men here! Protect The Father!"

 

"Joseph" Jade's heart sunk as she looked through the window, her eyes darted around looking for Joseph. She had to do something, she had no clothes and no weapons. She paced the floor and decided she needed to do it. She fell to the floor as she began to phase. Her body shook and her nails scratches into the wooden floor under her.

 

Once complete she darted to the back of the house and out the bedroom window, she couldn't be seen by the peggies either- she had no way to communicate that she wouldn't hurt them. She darted into the trees and watched for Joseph. The peggies were vastly out numbered against The Resistance. She needed to intervene, the peggies that were protecting the docks had all been killed and The Resistance was beginning to move more inland up toward the church.

 

Jade raced over and jumped on the woman at the back of the pack, she quickly broke her neck before moving to the next human and doing the same. She broke 4 necks before anyone else in the group even noticed. 'That's got to be some kind of record, right?' she thought to herself

 

A man turned to her, went pale and screamed before she was able to swipe her sharp claws through his jugular. The other members turned around swiftly to see their comrade's neck get torn out by a giant hell beast. Jade growled and attacked before the group could hardly process what was happening. 6 more dead. 

 

With that group dealt with she snuck around one of the smaller building and saw Joseph squatting behind a large bliss crate holding his pistol. More Resistance people were coming from the front gate, all of the peggies must have been taken out. Jade stayed low and watched, they were heading straight for Joseph, she moved around the other side of the building and saw Joseph stand up with his hands in the air, he dropped his pistol and kicked it off to the side.

 

"Joseph Seed!" Hudson stepped forward. "You have no idea how much I'd love to kill you right here, right now..."

 

Before Jade could even think she had taken off at full speed and attacked The Resistance members that surrounded Hudson. Hudson and Joseph both fell to the ground and were sprayed with blood as Jade ripped apart the 3 remaining members of the group. Joseph scrambled to get to Hudson's gun but she kicked him in the ribs. Jade turned as she heard the click of the safety on the gun and lunged in front of Joseph, she was shot 3 times by Hudson before she was able to turn and bite Hudson around the head- crushing her skull.

 

Jade spat out Hudson and fell to the ground with a cry.


	18. Chapter 18

Joseph immediately ran to Jade's side, she was unconscious- but alive. 

 

"Oh Jade, what were you thinking?" he whispered as he began putting pressure on the wound that was bleeding the most. He looked over at the carnage Jade had wrought, she was able to kill Hudson with one bite, and the other members of her squad had been torn to apart. He caught sight of a radio on Hudson's hip, reached over to grab it and turned it to Jacob's frequency.

"Jacob. I need your help!"

 

"Are you alright? I heard your compound was hit"

 

"Jade saved my life, but she was shot a couple times in the process, she's unconscious and bleeding significantly. Everyone at my compound is dead"

 

Jacob growled over the radio "I'm still about 10 minutes out, keep pressure on her wounds. Is there anyway John can have a doctor ready?"

 

"Probably. But Jade- she's in her other form, I don't want to put her in more danger."

 

"If you said she was shot multiple times Joseph, we are going to need all the help we can get."

 

"You're right. I'll radio John."

 

Joseph felt for Jade's pulse, it was weak, but still present. Joseph's hands slick with Jade's blood slipped over the buttons on the radio and dialed John's frequency

 

"John?"

 

"Joseph. How are you managing? Dealing with that minx Jade"

 

"John- Jade was shot while saving my life. I need you to call in some doctors. Jacob is coming to stabilize her then we will be on route to your ranch, you are better set up to manage her."

 

Joseph could hear that John was upset "I'll make some calls"

 

"Oh, and John... We may have to silence these doctors if they are unwilling to keep quiet about Jade's... condition. You'll understand when we get there."

 

"Right."

 

Joseph hooked the radio to his belt and looked over Jade. Her fur was matted with blood and a pool began to form under her. He turned as he heard the sound of Jacob's jeep come racing up the dirt road to the compound, he stood and waved before returning to Jade's side.

 

Jacob parked the jeep beside them and rushed out with a first aid kit. He looked Jade over quickly "This doesn't look good Joseph... That's a lot of blood"

 

"I don't know how much of the blood on her is hers... We need to get her to John's."

 

"I've got to get an IV line in so her blood pressure doesn't plummet"

 

Jacob got to work quickly, he was able to find a vein and begin administering fluids while he applied pressure bandages to her wounds. "Looks like she was hit 3 times. Chest, abdomen and thigh. I'm going to need you to sit with her and hold up the IV bag."

 

"Anything, how should we load her? She must weigh around 350-400 lbs!" 

 

"Pray..." Jacob said roughly as he went to his jeep and folded down the back seats. He returned and squatted at Jade's head "You take her legs, I'll get her head." Together they heaved and managed to lift Jade into the jeep, Joseph got in and sat with Jade's head on his lap- he stroked her fur between her eyes up her forehead and raised the IV bag. Jacob got in and floored it towards John's ranch, he would regularly look back in the review mirror and check on the 2 in the back seat. Joseph looked distraught as he focused on Jade while he ran his hands through her fur. The drive felt like a lifetime, they were getting close. Joseph grabbed his radio and called John "We're close, have a stretcher ready outside."

 

"Yes Joseph. I was able to get 4 doctors here, they are prepped and ready."

 

"Good John"

 

Joseph turned the radio off and set it beside him.

 

"Joseph did you radio Faith to bring some bliss?" Jacob looked back at him through the review mirror

 

"No, we actually discovered early that bliss has no effect on Jade. When John's hunters were tasked with bringing her in they shot her with 12 bliss bullets and eventually had to hit her over the head with a baseball bat to knock her out"

 

Jacob's eyes widened before he let out a chuckle "I would have liked to have seen John's face when he got that information."

 

Joseph smiled briefly and returned his attention to Jade

 

Not long after they were pulling up John's driveway. John could be seen pacing on the porch, when he heard the jeep he called inside and quickly walked down the steps to meet them and pushed a stretcher toward the vehicle. Jacob got out quickly and stopped him "brother, when you see Jade, don't freak out."

 

"What are you talking about? Where is she?"

 

Jacob walked toward the back of the jeep and opened the back, he motioned for John to come over. John's eyes flew open and he took a step back when he saw the giant wolf with it's head resting on Joseph.

 

"T-that's Jade?"

 

"Yes John" Joseph spoke calmly as he looked at Jade "she is a lycanthrope.. an extremely rare creature, and she's currently bleeding to death"

 

Jacob brought over the stretcher and together the 3 men were able to get the majority of Jade on it, her arms and legs hung off limply. 

 

"The doctors are set up in the living room" John spoke as they worked the stretched up the porch steps and through the front door.

 

The doctors gasped when the stretcher rolled into the room. "Listen up!" John spoke "Do not ask, do not tell. Just fix" they nodded quickly and began to assess Jade's condition. They moved her to the large dining table and hooked her up to multiple monitors.

 

"3 bullet entry, only 1 exit."

 

"Left lung is collapsed" they prodded the wound on her chest

 

"Liver is damaged"

 

"Right femoral artery was grazed, she's lost a lot of blood"

 

Joseph left the room once Jade was stabilized, he couldn't watch. Instead he went and sat down on the porch, his own injury from being kicked in the ribs was beginning to hurt now that his adrenaline was coming down. He sat there with his head in his hands as he prayed. 

 

Hours passed as the doctors worked on Jade. Finally Jacob came out and sat beside Joseph. "Joseph, they're all finished. They were able to stop the bleeding, they also retrieved the bullets. She's all sewn up and resting"

 

"Thank you Jacob" Joseph walked into the house and saw Jade was moved to a mattress they brought in and set on the floor near the fireplace. He saw John kneeling by the matress and stayed quiet as he watched his younger brother.

 

"Jade... You did so well. I've been worried sick since you ran from Joseph, but you came back on your own. You came home." he leaned over and leaned his forehead against hers "Thank you for protecting my brother" 

 

Moments like these were seldom, they rekindled Joseph's hope that his little brother's heart wasn't black.

 

Jacob reentered the house and joined Joseph as they both walked into the large living room and sat on the sofa across from where Jade was set up. 

 

"Are you worried about how she is going to react when she wakes up?" Jacob asked with a raised eyebrow

 

"I am" Joseph sighed and looked at his lap "I saw her tear people apart back there. She killed Hudson by crushing her skull with her jaws. But I have to trust God, and I have to trust her..."

 

"How did you guys find out about her ability?" John asked

 

"She bolted from Joseph, Joseph called me to track her, found nothing, Joseph went out into the forest at night to look and she approached him in this form, Joseph called me to come look." Jacob nonchalantly summed up.

 

"We will take turns watching over her. I suppose we should call Faith to help too." Joseph muttered as he stared at Jade.

 

"I'll go radio Faith and set the doctors on their way" John stood and left the room

 

The rest of the day passed by slowly as the brothers each took turns watching over Jade, Joseph insisted on being there throughout everyone's shift in case she woke up. Faith would be joining them the next morning. 

 

It was John's shift to watch Jade, it was 1:30am and Joseph slept lightly on the couch. John sat in a chair reading a book when he heard a groan from Jade, he set his book down and roused Joseph.

 

She groaned again and moved a hand, Joseph got up immediately and knelt in front of the mattress.

 

"Jade... It's ok Jade, we're here." He spoke quietly, he didn't wan't to spook her.

 

Jade's eyes flashed open and she looked around in panic, she pulled off all the cables that were monitoring her while she looked down at herself. 

 

Joseph brought his hands up and tried to calm her "Jade, you're safe my child. You were injured in the fight earlier. We are at John's ranch"

 

Jade tried to sit up and whimpered before Joseph laid her back down "You need to rest, we are here to watch over you"

 

'We?' Jade thought as she looked past Joseph and saw John, he sat on the couch with his eyebrows furrowed, deep in thought as he watched Joseph interact with her.

 

Jade's stomach audibly gurgled, she went wide eyed.

 

John looked over and laughed at Jade's expression "I will find you some food.. Anything in particular you need?"

 

God yes. She needed meat, raw succulent meat. and water- so much water.

 

Joseph reached over to the coffee table and grabbed her a notepad and a marker

 

Jade smirked at him and began scribbling away, she turned the pad to John.

 

"Raw meat hmm, I'll check- I may need to send a hunter out. I'll be back with your water in a moment"

 

Joseph looked over at Jade, put his hand on her large cheek and looked into her eyes "Thank you. You saved my life, that was very brave. You should know- I would do the same for you."

 

Jade looked down and Joseph could tell she was blushing, even through the fur.


	19. Chapter 19

John returned with a cup of water and plate "I had a pack of steaks in the fridge, I called for one of my hunters to bring in some more- does it matter what he hunts?"

 

Jade shook her head and stared at the plate, drool began to string out of the corner of her mouth and down onto the mattress.

 

"Your hands are filthy Jade, would you like me to feed you?" John sat down on the mattress beside her.

 

Jade scrunched up her muzzle in disgust before quickly giving in and shrugging. She rolled onto her side.

 

John grabbed a full steak and held it up to Jade. She bit one end and pulled it out of John's hand and scarfed it back.

 

John glared at Jade "That's how that plate of meat disappeared from the fridge before you left isn't it?"

 

Jade smiled

 

John grabbed another steak and she did the same thing. He offered her the cup of water and she stared at it awkwardly, he held it up to her mouth and it spilled onto the floor.

 

"John. I think she may need a bowl" Joseph stood up and went to the kitchen and returned with a large metal mixing bowl filled with water and set it on the floor infront of Jade. She leaned forward and lapped up 2/3 of the water

 

"So ugh Jade-" John looked down and the drool and the water that now pooled on his precious flooring "will you be changing back anytime soon?"

 

She looked down, shook her head, and began scribbling on the notebook: Too hurt. Stuck until healed :(

 

"Interesting" John stared at the plate

 

Joseph leaned back on the couch as he sank deep into thought. He didn't even notice as Jacob came into the room and sat down on the couch for his shift. 

 

"She's awake.. and she's being hand fed raw steaks?" Jacob laughed, his voice still thick with sleep. 

 

Jade smiled at Jacob as she nabbed the last steak off the plate catching John by surprise "HEY! Careful! That one had a bone in it!"

 

Jade gnawed through it like it was butter.

 

John sniffed "well then. I'm going to bed. You-" he pointed at Jade "are getting a bath tomorrow, especially if you are staying here."

 

'Right' Jade rolled her eyes. She tried to readjust how she was laying and winced. 

 

Jacob noticed, "Easy pup, you got injured pretty good. 3 bullets, 1 punctured your lung, 1 hit your liver and the other one grazed your femoral artery- you ended up losing a lot of blood."

 

Jade knew she had been shot, she remembered jumping in front of Joseph, hearing the shots from Hudson's pistol and she remembered crushing Hudson's skull in her mouth and tasting the mixture of her blood and brain juice. Her stomach churned. She was quickly pulled out of the memory as a new problem arose- she had to pee. She whimpered and was able to roll from her side up onto all fours. She swayed as she tried to keep her balance, she was weak from the blood loss. The 2 men stood up immediately and went to her.

 

"Easy child, What do you need?" Joseph asked, his face full of concern

 

On all fours Jade was nearly eye level with Joseph. She groaned and wrote on the pad: toilet

 

"I suppose it was only a matter of time, we'll walk you. Do you need help in there?"

 

Jade eyes widened and she shook her head 'God no Joseph!' She turned and began to make her way to the front door. She limped along on 3 legs, holding up the one that had been shot. She was quickly stopped by Jacob and turned toward the bathroom on the lower level of the house.

 

"Sorry pup, John will flip if you pee burn his grass"

 

Jacob was right. This was going to be awkward. They made it to the bathroom, Jade glanced at herself in the mirror as she walked by- her fur was caked in blood. The toilet... it was so small, she was able to do her business. She hobbled to the sink and scrubbed at her bloody paws, she lost her balance standing on 1 leg and grabbed the sink to balance herself. It was torn clean off the wall and shattered on the ground. 

 

'John is going to lay a fucking egg!' Jade shrieked mentally

 

Jacob crashed through the bathroom door and saw Jade laying among the broken porcelain as water sprayed up the wall from the broken tap. His mouth dropped open before he clambered in and turned off the water. "I don't think John will mind if you pee outside from now on."

 

Jade smirked and got back up onto her feet. She took a set and winced, she had cut her pads open on the pieces of broken sink. She cursed her life and hobbled back to the mattress with Jacob. 

 

"Jade!?" Joseph ran from the direction of the bathroom. He saw her laying on her mattress in front of the fireplace.

 

She looked up and tilted her head

 

"There is blood on the floor leading from the bathroom."

  
Jacob looked over at Jade. "She must have cut her feet on the broken sink" he got up from the couch and knelt down to look at Jade's feet. "Well pup, you're going to need stitches."

 

Jade groaned as Jacob went to go get his first aid kit

 

Joseph came over, sat on the mattress and pulled Jade's head onto his lap. He rubbed her fur soothingly. "My Jade... So special, so beautiful." 

 

Jacob returned and moved the lamp over before sitting down at Jade's feet. "It's just the one toe, should only need 4 or 5 stitches" He set a towel down, pulled her foot over it and dumped some alcohol in the wound. He had her stitched up before she even really knew he had begun. Jacob remained down at her feet, he marveled in their size and strength- they were nearly as big as his face.

 

He began to rub her feet, massaging the thick pads before moving up her toes. Jade groaned and closed her eyes. 

 

The noise caught Joseph off guard and he shot a surprised look up to Jacob who shrugged back at him and continued massaging. 

 

Jade didn't wake again until nearly 7 am, all that water she had sucked back was now about to burst her bladder. She looked around and didn't see anyone so she quietly tried to get up until she pushed down on something out of place.

 

Joseph yipped and grabbed his sore chest. Jade realized that he had fallen asleep under her as she rested against him and had just stepped on him a little. 

 

She dipped her head down, concern in her eyes as she licked his face and bare chest.

 

"I'm ok, I'm ok!" He held his hands up as he was assaulted by her apology.

 

She stopped and sat back to look at him before getting up and hobbling to the front door to let herself outside.

 

It felt good to be outside again, John had stationed his usual guards further away on the property so Jade's secret wouldn't get out until she was ready. She limped over the manacured lawn to the edge of the forest where she was able to pee in peace and not worry about breaking anything.

 

Joseph stood on the porch sipping a cup of coffee as he watched Jade cross the lawn and make her way up onto the front steps. "John is up and looking for you."

 

Jade groaned as John walked out onto the porch.

 

"AH! Jade, good morning my dear. Let's get you all cleaned up. Now I would like to do this outside with the hose but Joseph insists that it is still too cold out for that. So we will use my shower. Up up let's go."

 

John followed close behind Jade as she hobbled into the house, up the stairs and into John's room. He had about 10 large towels and a blow dryer waiting on the counter along with a giant bottle of shampoo, he ducked around her and started up the shower and began to undress down to his underwear.

 

Jade sighed 'don't you own any swim shorts?' 

 

"What? I'm not going to get my clothes wet... and you aren't able to wash yourself... Just get in."

 

She limped past John and ducked into the large shower, the warm water sank into her fur and she groaned at the feeling. John wasn't wrong, she was nasty. The water that pooled at her feet was stained red by all the blood. John stepped in and stood in front of her with the large bottle of shampoo and set it on the ground, he grabbed the shower hose and began spraying her down- making sure to fully saturate her coat. Once soaking he squeezed out a pile of shampoo into his hand, slopped it onto Jade and began scrubbing. He was surprisingly gentle around her wounds and he worked his hands though her fur. 

 

"Can you sit down or something, I need to wash your head"

 

She rolled her eyes and awkwardly sat down and leaned her head forward. He soaped her up and scrubbed her down before rinsing and signalling her to stand up again.

 

She stood facing him, she swiped a hand over herself to gather some of the excessive bubbles and plopped the suds on top of John's head. 

 

He immediately froze and his mouth opened

 

She looked down at him with a proud 'I'm bigger than you' type smile

 

"You are trouble. You know that?" he rinsed her off then sprayed her in the face with the shower hose.

 

She coughed and quickly grabbed the hose from John and soaked him. His normally slicked back hair fell out of place and his underwear clung desperately to his frame, he yelled angrily. She barked out a twisted sort of laugh as John slammed the shower off. They were both dripping wet, Jade shook off, spraying John with more water. He gasped and quickly stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist. 

 

"Thank you for at least doing THAT in there, now come out so I can dry you off"

 

Jade stepped out and John wrapped 1 towel around her waist, threw 1 arcoss her back, 1 over her head and rubbed one over her chest, he swiped the water away gently over her wounds but returned to drying her vigorously after that. Once most of the water was off her he turned on the blow dryer for the fur around her wounds and shut it off. 

 

"You can go lay outside in the sun to dry the rest"

 

She took a step forward and licked John up the side of his head before exiting the room and headed toward the porch.


	20. Chapter 20

Jade made it outside after her shower from John, she limped over to the lawn out front and laid down gently and stretched. The sun felt amazing as it warmed her damp fur. It wasn't long before John came out onto the porch, when he saw Jade laying peacefully on the grass he wandered over and sat beside her. He was dressed and his hair was returned to it's normal slicked back state. 

 

"If you lick me like that again Jade, I will cut off your tongue." he glared at her.

 

Jade snorted.. he obviously hadn't seen the broken sink yet, she would have laughed more but a woman in white skipping up the driveway caught her eye. She loosed a menacing growl before lowering herself to the ground. John looked up and around when he saw Jade's response. "Jade. We're ok, that's Faith." he flicked her nose and she pushed him over. Joseph had silently walked over to where Jade was laying and noticed John laying face down on the ground.

 

"John?" he raised an eyebrow

 

John quickly sat up and sent and evil look toward Jade 

 

She stuck her tongue out at him

 

He seethed

 

"Ah.. Faith!" Joseph waved 

 

Jade lowered herself into the ground again

 

"My child, do not hide, she already knows." Joseph spoke calmly 

 

Faith skipped over cheerfully and hugged Joseph before she addressed Jade

 

"You must be Jade!" 

 

'What gave me away' Jade grumbled internally but smiled.

 

Faith knelt right in front of Jade and brought her forehead to Jade's "Thank you for protecting Joseph" she kissed Jade's forehead and stood back up. "I'm going to find Jacob and get some breakfast going" she turned and skipped into the house.

 

Breakfast.. Jade's stomach rumbled.

 

John and Joseph both heard and looked at Jade.

 

"How are you feeling? Besides hungry." Joseph asked

 

Jade did a thumbs up and winked

 

"That was unsettling" John said flatly

 

A vehicle could be heard driving up the driveway toward the ranch, it was Jacob. He pulled up in front of the house and parked. He hopped out and called Jade to come over.

 

She got up with a groan and limped over to Jacob's jeep. He led her around the back and opened the hatch. Inside were 2 freshly killed bucks, and a bucket filled with rabbits. Jade's eyes widened and she quickly looked over at Jacob who held a finger over his mouth "shhh, I went hunting for you. John's hunters are idiots. Give me a sec."

 

"Joseph?" Jacob hollered from behind his vehicle "Have you checked in on your surviving flock yet today? I saw some wandering around kind of lost looking on my way back from cleaning up your compound. And John, Faith must be here by now, you're letting her work in your kitchen without you?"

 

Concerned filled Joseph and John as they walked hurriedly toward the house.

 

"See?" Jacob sneered, he handed the bucket of rabbits to Jade and dragged the tarp that the bucks were laying on out of the back of the jeep and over to the lawn. Jade followed and sat down by the tarp, setting the bucket down beside her. Her eyes sparkled in wonder as she looked over Jacob's kills. He sat down beside her and grabbed a rabbit from the pail and began skinning it, he was a skilled hunter and finished quickly. He handed the freshly skinned rabbit to Jade, he watched as she ate it and began on the next rabbit. After the second one he stopped "deer or more rabbits?" Jade motioned to the deer "Do you want it skinned?" Jade shook her head and Jacob smiled proudly.

 

He watched as she got up and began to devour the first buck, she ate quickly, she didn't want Joseph to return and see her like this. She ate down to the bones and hollowed out the majority of the animal. Jade sat back and looked at Jacob, he looked impressed. "I'll go hang the other buck and set the rest of the rabbits in John's walk in cooler around back. You better clean up and look innocent." Jacob stood, grabbed the bucket of rabbits and dragged the other body on the tarp back to his jeep, loaded it, and drove around the back of the house.

 

Jade noticed a tap on the outside of the house and walked over to it and washed off her face. Already her limp was gone, it wouldn't take long now for her other injuries to heal. She dried off and went inside. John and Faith were busy in the kitchen and Joseph was in the other room on his radio. Jade walked toward Joseph's voice and found him pacing the floor with one hand on his cheek as he spoke into the radio. He saw her in the doorway and motioned for her to come in

 

".... make sure it is done." he spoke authoritatively

 

"Yes Father"

 

Joseph set the radio down on the table as Jade walked over and hugged him, it was the first time she was able to show him affection since their time together back at Joseph's. She missed him. 

 

He returned the hug and sunk his face into her fur "I've missed you, I've wanted to touch you so badly.." he trailed off and they just stood holding each other. Their time was interrupted by a knock at the door, they stepped apart just as Faith peeked her head in the door "Breakfast is ready" she said cheerfully

 

"We better get you some food" he looked down and held out his arm gesturing for Jade to walk ahead.

 

"Oh Jade, you're going to love it" Faith squealed

 

They walked out of the room and found that the table was set and covered with food. There was ham, eggs, bacon, fruit, bagels, salad, pancakes, you name it. Jade began to salivate again, Faith pulled out a chair for her to sit in and Jade looked at it with a raised eyebrow and gingerly sat down on the tiny chair. Faith returned with a plate of food she had put together and set it down in front of Jade and poured her a glass of orange juice. The others also sat down at the table and plated their meals. Joseph said grace and everybody began to eat. Joseph and Faith talked about the project but avoided the topic of the latest attack, they talked about the health of the flock, and the upcoming bliss harvest. Jade stared back and forth between her plate of food and the cutlery set out before her. John and Jacob seemed to notice as they quietly watched her, she reached out a large hand and tried to grip the tiny fork, her claws made it difficult to hold it normally so she held it like a knife, she stabbed at an egg and brought the whole thing awkwardly up to her mouth before it fell, bounced off the tablecloth and flopped onto the floor with a loud splat. Jacob nearly spat out his juice as he laughed, Jade looked up glared at Jacob and saw John also was also watching- he stared at her with his eyebrows raised. She flattened her ears against her head and tried again, this time with a piece of ham, she stabbed it, tilted her head sideways, opened her mouth and slowly brought the slice of meat to her mouth, she licked it and it too fell to the floor. 

 

Jade whimpered pathetically

 

"Uhh Faith? your little friend here is having some trouble" Jacob laughed

 

Jade face palmed and let her hand slide down her cheek

 

"Oh no! Jade! I'm so sorry! I'll come help you!" she brought her plate over and sat beside Jade.

 

She stuck a fork full of ham and eggs and held it up to Jade who gently took it off the tiny fork. They continued this way until only the fruit and salad remained. "Here you go Jade, the healthiest part!"

 

Jade scrunched up her nose at the fork full of salad

 

"Oh uh Faith?" John interjected "Jade here doesn't, and I quote, ' _eat plants_ '... and please-" he held up his hands "don't force her to. I made her eat a salad when she was here last and I still wake up thinking about it."

 

Jade glared at John then smiled weakly at Faith.

 

John laughed and got up from his chair and headed down the hallway toward the bathroom. Jacob and Jade quickly looked at each other but it was too late..

 

"WHAT THE FUCK!?" John shrieked

 

"Language...." Joseph pinched the bridge of his nose

 

John came stomping back into to the table "What happened to the sink?!"

 

"There was an incident after you went to bed..." Jacob began to explain

 

John's face was red as he pointed at Jade "You... You are a menace!" he stormed off again

 

Jade stood up and went back outside where she fell asleep on the lawn in the sun

 

She felt something touch her hair, she startled awake, Joseph stood over her holding a blanket and smiled warmly "I didn't mean to wake you, I came to check on you"

 

Jade smiled and licked his hand

 

He smiled and rubbed her cheek

 

She looked cautiously around

 

"They're watching a movie"

 

Jade smiled again and began to phase

 

Joseph stood back and watched as the creature he'd come to know twisted and shrank down to the woman he cared so much for.

 

She stood up and went to Joseph and wrapped her arms around his neck, she pushed her naked body flush against his bare chest. He groaned and wrapped the blanket around her and held her close.

 

He was so relieved. He leaned in and crashed his mouth to hers, she returned his affection and felt him growing hard against her. "Joseph" she panted


	21. Chapter 21

Joseph grabbed Jade's hand and led her to the back of the house toward what looked like a large garage, he punched in numbers on the keypad and the door opened. They walked into the dimly lit space and Joseph swiftly picked her up and pushed her against the wall, Jade wrapped her legs around Joseph, grabbed his face and pulled him into a kiss. Joseph set his hands on her hips and kissed her deeply, she returned his kiss with equal fever- biting his lip before she needed to break for air. Joseph moaned and captured her mouth again, this time their tongues met and slid together, Jade moved one hand behind Joseph's head and the other dropped to his abdomen where she traced his scars. Joseph broke the from the kiss and began to nip at her neck and collar bone, Jade let out a soft moan.

 

"Joseph. I need you.." she whimpered

 

"You need me to what?" he kissed under her ear

 

"I need you to fuck me"

 

Joseph let out a growl and pulled Jade's center down against the large bulge in his pants.

 

Jade whimpered and her hands dove toward Joseph's belt, she undid it with ease and pulled Joseph's pants down far enough for his member to spring free, it curved up and poked at her slick entrance. She tried to sink down onto him but Joseph held her just out of reach, with one hand Joseph grasped himself and pushed the tip of his cock inside her.

 

"Mmm Jade, you're already so wet for me"

 

"Yes Father, just for you" Jade had never called Joseph by that before and it had quite the effect.

 

Joseph groaned loudly, gripped Jade's hips hard and pulled her down as he simultaneously bucked up against Jade, unintentionally sheathing his full length inside her. He continued to groan as he pumped into her hard before he was able to regain his composure.

 

She cried out loudly and gripped his shoulders

 

He panted, "My child... you're so tight" he thrusted slowly, savoring every feeling of his cock buried in Jade's slippery heat. 

 

Jade reached down and began rubbing her clit, she moaned and arched her back against the wall. 

 

Joseph looked down at her hand and swatted it away before pulling out of her completely, setting her feet on the ground and kneeling in front of her.

 

Jade whined at the emptiness but Joseph was quick to replace his cock with 2 of his large fingers and brought his mouth against her swollen clit, he sucked it into his mouth and flicked at it with his tongue. Jade's hands went to Joseph's hair, she undid the hair tie that kept his man bun in place and his hair fell down around his face. He licked and prodded at her clit, she rewarded him with tugs at his hair, he moaned against her- sending electric vibrations to her clit.

 

"Joseph" she panted "I'm going to cum... I wan't your cock.. Please!" Jade pleased, her knees were becoming weak from the pleasure.

 

Joseph smiled against her, licked off his fingers, stood up and turned her around so she faced the wall, Jade purposely stuck out her ass and ground back on Joseph's cock. He couldn't take it anymore. He gripped her shoulder and lined himself up before sinking all the way in and beginning to thrust into her at a steady pace. The sound of skin slapping echoed throughout the large garage, but they were too wrapped up to even notice or care.

 

Jade's walls began to tighten "I'm coming! Father please cum in me!" That almost made Joseph's head explode. He groaned loudly and thrusted deeper into her before spilling his load in her.

 

"My Jade..." he panted, remaining seated in her as her waves of climax milked him. He slipped out of her, tucked himself back in his pants and returned his hair tie to his hair. He gently lifted her chin to look at her face, her green eyes sparkled back at him, "You're so perfect.." he whispered.

 

Jade blushed and looked down, she grabbed the blanket and wrapped herself back up. Joseph held open the door for her and they walked back toward the front of the house. Joseph gave her a give kiss before they ascended the porch and walked into the house. 

 

"Hey Joseph. Was Jade ok?" Jacob asked without turning away from the tv to look.

 

"Yes, Jacob. I'm fine." Jade said and smiled as Jacob and Faith spun around to see her 

 

"You were able to phase back... excellent, I'd like to check over your wounds"

 

"They are fine! Can I atleast have a shower and get dressed first?" Jade currently had Joseph's cum running down the inside of her thighs. "Where's John?"

 

"Sure. I'm not sure where John went. He's been gone for about 20 minutes actually"

 

"Jade you are beautiful as a human too! Come sit with us after!" Faith said excitedly

 

Little did anyone know that John had been down in the basement checking things over when movement on one of the many screens caught his eye. He had motion activated cameras set all around his ranch that relayed footage to a sort of control room in the basement. His mouth fell open as he watched Joseph fuck Jade into the wall in his garage. He looked around briefly before he sat down and began palming his erection through his jeans. He had wanted Jade since the first time he caught her, her spirit caused him many inconvenient boners, and now here she was being claimed by his older brother. His blood began to boil, she was meant to be his! Joseph said for him to love her! He threw the keyboard on the ground and stomped back upstairs to the main floor.  
John returned to the living room where he found his family sitting on the leather couches talking about the project, Joseph spoke of future sermons he had planned while Faith nodded excitedly.

 

"Where's Jade?" he interrupted

 

"Brother, I didn't hear you return. Jade was able to phase back and is just taking a shower" Joseph spoke

 

"I'll go see if she needs anything" John spoke before heading up the stairs and into his room. He locked the door behind him and stripped down to his underwear as he walked into the bathroom. He slipped into the shower behind Jade and put a hand over her mouth so she would be quiet.

 

She startled and flailed, he spun her around quickly and pushed her against the wall. 

 

"Not so tough now are you?"

 

Jade glared at him

 

John smiled and looked down to where he had carved WRATH into her chest. His eyes widened before they turned angry. He brushed his fingertips over where the raised wounds should be to find nothing- just smooth flesh.

 

"How!" he yelled before raising a hand to her throat

 

"I told you it wouldn't work." Jade smiled

 

"I'll just have to carve it into you again until it sticks!" John moved his head closer to hers "Along with your new sin.." he whispered in her ear "LUST" he bit her earlobe.

 

Jade pushed him away from her and looked at him angrily

 

"You thought you could just fuck my brother in _my_ house and I wouldn't find out about it!" John roared

 

The doorknob could be heard turning. "Is everything ok in there!?" Jacob yelled before he began slamming his fist against the door.

 

John disappeared as quickly as he arrived, he quickly dried off and got into sweatpants before he opened the door "Yes Jacob. Everything is fine."

 

"Why was the door locked?"

 

"Force of habit"

 

Jacob eyed John suspiciously and walked past him toward the bathroom "Jade! I have to get going, let me check your wounds"

 

"I told you they were fine Jacob!" Jade yelled

 

"I'm waiting pup." he stood outside the shower and tapped his boot on the tile.

 

Jade sighed, turned off the shower and wrapped herself in a towel before stepping out

 

"I'm still not used to how small you are now" Jacob laughed

 

"I could still kick your butt ginger"

 

Jacob smiled and quickly tugged the towel off Jade exposing her naked body to both himself and John who watched from his bed.

 

"HEY!" she yelled and tried to cover herself up

 

"Just stop and let me look." 

 

"Is this how you get your kicks? Finding injured women and claiming to know first aid?!"

 

"I do know first aid." Jacob said flatly as he examined her "Saved your ass- ....Your wounds are totally gone.." he looked up into her eyes.

 

"Yeah. Not only do I never scar, I also heal mega fast when I have enough food" she grabbed at the towel Jacob held loosely at his side and wrapped herself up again. "Thanks to you, I was nice and full" she winked at the innuendo 

 

John burned with envy as he sat on the edge of his bed watching the interaction

 

Jacob stood rigid, blushed and brought a hand nervously to the back of his neck "Well I better go. Lots to do" he turned and left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! And thank you for your support!


	22. Chapter 22

Jade was in her room getting dressed when she heard a gentle knock on her door. She wrapped herself in a blanket "Come in"

 

It was Joseph

 

"Oh hey" Jade dropped the blanket and returned to rooting through the dresser in search of suitable clothes. "Everyone gone?"

 

"Yes, Jacob and Faith have both left. There is much to be done." he walked over and sat on her bed while he watched her. "Jade?"

 

"yeah?" she pulled out a shirt and slipped it on

 

"I have to return to my compound. The attack earlier this week killed 15 of my children and my flock is scared. I must return to guide them."

 

Jade turned and walked over to Joseph, she stood between his legs and gently hugged his head against her. "Of course Joseph. I'm sorry about your followers."

 

"I want to introduce you to them, as their mother"

 

Jade pulled Joseph's head off her and held it to look at him "Their what now?"

 

"I want to marry you." Joseph never broke eye contact "and I want you to help me lead them into the new world" he grabbed her hands and held them

 

"Joseph... I-I cant lead people! I care for you and I will protect you until the end of time... But these other people.. What if they find out what I am?"

 

"I want them to know you fully, I want them to see you as I do-"

 

Jade's eyes widened "you want me to be sexy friends with all of them!?"

 

Hurt filled Joseph's face as he stood up and looked down at her "Is that all we are Jade?" he began to walk toward the door and paused as he gripped the handle. "I won't give up you know... on you, and I won't stop asking you to marry me." he slipped out the door.

 

"Joseph" Jade called after him

 

He was gone.

 

Jade crawled into bed and cried herself to sleep

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

"Wake UP!" John yelled as he banged his fist against Jade's door. When she didn't answer he burst into the room.

 

Jade groaned and pulled her pillow over her head

 

John walked over and grabbed it and threw it to the end of her bed.

 

"What do you want John?" she whined

 

"It's nearly 3pm. Time to get up and join the living. I have a special present for you."

 

"I don't want anything from you John..."

 

"Too bad." he reached around her neck and locked on a black leather collar.

 

Jade froze and then felt at her neck. "What the fuck John!"

 

"You will NOT remove your collar or there will be consequences."

 

"I'll just phase, it'll break it"

 

"Then there will be consequences." he slapped her ass, stood up and left the room "Now get up!" he yelled from the hallway as he descended the stairs.

 

"psh consequences... little fucker." Jade grumbled to herself as she grabbed her pillow and went back to sleep.

 

30 minutes later she was awoken by John grabbing her by the collar and throwing her on the ground. "I told you to GET UP!"

 

Jade coughed and grabbed at her collar "Fi-iine"

 

John leaned by the door, "get dressed"

 

"When you get your ass out of the room"

 

John smiled and pulled a small remote from his pocket, he pushed one of the buttons and it sent a sharp shock to Jade's neck.

 

Jade cried out and looked up at John with anger.

 

"I said get dressed."

 

Jade stood up and removed the large tshist she slept in, leaving her flesh bare in front of John. His hungry eyes roamed over her and settled on her full breasts, noticing John's dark eyes Jade turned away from him and held her tail straight down to try to cover her ass. She went to the dresser and picked out some fresh underwear, jeans and a different tshirt. She dressed with her back to him, as she dressed she heard noise from the collar she wore, she reached and felt that there were tags attached that jingled when she moved. She turned back to John still holding the tags, he still leaned by the door, when he noticed her holding the tags a dark smile crept across his face. "Your sins my dear. You will bare them one way or another." he turned and walked out of the room and motioned for her to follow. 

 

Jade glared into the back of John's head as they walked down the stairs, he motioned for her to sit at the table. She sat quietly and gripped the sides of the chair roughly to try and vent some of the intense anger she felt.

 

"I've cooked you a chicken" John walked into the kitchen and returned with 2 plates. 1 had a full chicken and the other a steak and salad. John set down the chicken infront of Jade and went and sat with his plate across the table.

 

Jade ripped a drumstick off the chicken and gnawed away at.

 

They sat and ate quietly. John looked up from time to time to ensure Jade was eating. 

 

Jade's anger dissipated as she ate and all she was left with was hurt. Her heart hurt for Joseph, the pain of her own words stung her. Of course they were more than just 'sexy friends'... she had never felt so much emotion toward a human before and it frightened her. She was scared to marry Joseph, she was scared to be tied to anything truly.

 

John seemed to sense the change in energy and looked up at Jade. He could see tears pooling in her eyes. 

 

"Something you'd like to confess?" he looked at her with a raised eyebrow

 

Jade sniffed and wiped her eyes... "fuck off John"

 

John tsked, reached into his pocket and sent Jade a shock. "Language" 

 

Jade grit her teeth and slammed her fist down on the table. 

 

"I need to use the restroom."

 

"You may go"

 

Jade stood up from the table and made her way down the hallway and locked herself in the bathroom. The shattered sink had been cleaned up but not replaced. She looked at herself in the mirror and punched the glass, blood trickled down her hand from her now cut knuckles. She went to window, opened it wide and climbed out into the evening air and walked toward the forest.

 

Her collar beeped as she got close to the edge of the property. 'Maybe that means I'm out of John's range' she thought to herself. Another couple of steps- another beep. Jade ignored it and pressed on, she took another step and was sent to the ground by a large shock delivered by the collar. She yelped and grabbed the collar around her neck- another shock, she rolled around on the ground while this longer shock pulsated through her.

 

John heard Jade yelp from inside the house. A dark smile formed on his face while he cut himself a slice of his steak, he popped it in his mouth, stood up and went out the front door. He crossed the property toward the signal on his remote and found Jade laying on the ground, he looked down at her "You thought it'd be that easy?"

 

Jade shook, though the shock had stopped, her nerves had not. She didn't even look at John, she felt defeated.

 

John bend knelt down and picked her up, Jade felt weak as she was carried back to the house. He hummed as he carried her and all she could smell was him, he wore expensive cologne but he also smelled earthy like Joseph.

 

Jade was set down gently on one of the leather sofas before John returned to his plate of food. 

 

"Why are you doing this?" Jade asked

 

"You haven't finished your atonement"

 

"Have I not proven myself loyal?"

 

"Yes, you have shown you are loyal- to Joseph and him alone." he raised an eyebrow "I don't believe you've quite grasped the power of 'yes' yet. You must accept your sins"

 

Jade seethed. "Can I return to my room? Being electrocuted really takes it out of a person"

 

"you may"

 

She got up and headed toward her room and slammed the door behind her. She flopped on her bed, she needed to do something about John. 'You must accept your sins' John's words echoed in her head. Wrath? Ok sure. But Lust? because she fucked Joseph? She could do a lot more than that, if he was going to make her life uncomfortable than she would do the same to him. She smiled as she plotted and was eventually taken by sleep.

 

Morning came quickly and John knocked on her door as usual to wake her up. 'Alright, plan _make John mental_ is a go' she smiled to herself as she got out of bed and stripped down to just her collar.

 

John opened the door when she didn't respond and found her standing naked walking towards the door. "Morning John, I was just going to take a shower." she walked past him like it was nothing and went to his bathroom and turned on the shower, she didn't bother closing any doors behind her. John still stood in the hallway, unsure of what had just happened. 

 

Jade truly was horny, why should she hide it? She stepped into the shower and began to lather herself up, once she was good and soapy she slid a hand down her body and began to pinch and rub at her nipples. She moaned lightly and bit her lower lip.

 

John walked into his bedroom and toward the open bathroom door but froze when he heard her moan. He gulped and looked into the steamy room and saw Jade massaging her soapy breasts and gently pinching her nipples. Her eyes were lightly closed, head was leaned back, and her face was flush with desire. John's cock twitched against the strain of his jeans.

 

"Ahem" John coughed and stood with his hands together over his prominent bulge. "Time to get out"

 

Jade looked over at John and slipped a hand between her thighs, she flicked at her swollen clit "Are you sure? I was just getting started"

 

John stared at the hand between her legs and willed himself to come back to reality. "If you aren't out in 30 seconds you'll be zapped"

 

Jade sighed, cut the water and stepped out of the shower. She grabbed a towel and dried herself off and walked past John, he followed close behind so she took the opportunity to pretended to drop her towel. "Whoops silly me, so clumsy" she quickly bent down to retrieve it making sure that her ass and tail brushed up against John crotch, he hissed and his hands instinctively settled on her hips.

 

"Oh John! Somebody needs a cold shower!" she turned out of John's grip and faced him

 

"Maybe if somebody was _behaving_ this wouldn't be a problem!"

 

"The heart wants what the heart wants John" she smiled and exited the room.


	23. Chapter 23

Over the next week Jade continued to taunt John, so much so that he began to leave most mornings and work at his bunker, leaving Jade freedom to roam about the house. She hadn't talked to or seen Joseph since that night, with John gone a lot of the time Jade was left alone with her thoughts, and more recently- her demons. She was haunted by the memories of all the people she had killed that day to save Joseph, she had killed Hudson. Memories of camping, fishing and bbqs.... not only was Hudson a fellow deputy but she was also a friend- a good one, and now she was dead. Tears flooded Jade's eyes and dripped down and stained her pillow. She needed to get out of here, she needed to run. She pulled roughly at the collar around her neck, she didn't care anymore. Jade rolled out of her bed and onto the floor and began to phase, when she grew the leather collar ripped and fell to the floor with a thud. Once complete she went down the stairs and out the front door- it was dusk, her thick nails bit into the dirt as she began to run. 

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

John was working away in his bunker, he couldn't take anymore of Jade's teasing, he worried that if he was left with blue balls any longer he would be left with permanent damage. He was sitting in a room going over papers when a beep sounded from his pocket- it was Jade's remote. He smiled "Finally took it off didn't you?", he neatly stacked the papers and casually left the bunker. Once driving he radioed Jacob 

 

"Jacob"

 

"John"

 

"She just popped the collar. Are you sure the implants will work?"

 

"I am."

 

"I'm on my way to her now."

 

"Let me know how it goes."

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Jade ran toward the edge of the property, she neared the place where she was shocked the last time around and felt a twang of anxiety. The collar was gone though, she was free.  
Jade crossed into the trees and pain erupted within her, again she was sent to the ground convulsing. Her mind was scrambled as she writhed around in agony. All she could think to do was get back on John's property, she clawed at the ground and pulled herself back out of the forest. Once she had returned the pain ceased but she was unable to move, she laid on her side breathing heavily, she wondered if her body was smoking as she lay helpless. It wasn't long after that she heard a truck roar up the dirt driveway, John? Already? Jade felt panic rising in her stomach but all she could do was lay there. The truck parked and she heard footsteps heading toward her.

 

"Ahh Jade... How lovely to see you. You weren't trying to run off now were you? Such a shame I had those doctors implant electric nodes into some of your muscles while you were unconscious... They have a proximity sensor, among other things... Phase back and I'll turn off the paralysis"

 

Jade phased back

 

"Good girl" John switched of the paralyzing effects

 

"John..." was all Jade could get out. Her chest heaved as she sucked in deep breaths.

 

"Easy now" he knelt down and again picked her up and carried her to the house. Her skin was so soft against his calloused hands, she was so vulnerable as she lulled in and out of consciousness- hanging limply in his arms.

 

He carried her into the house, up the stairs and set her down on her bed. He flicked on the lamp and tried to get her blankets sorted when he noticed the dampness on her pillow. He didn't really have time to react before she reached out weakly for him "Stay..." she said

 

John furrowed his eyebrows and held his hand out for her "I guess I should keep an eye on you until you're out of this, would hate for you to choke on your tongue." 

 

He slipped off his long coat and set it neatly on the dresser along with his dress shirt and sunglasses, he kicked off his boots and slid out of his jeans before climbing under the covers with Jade. He layed on his side facing her and pulled her towards him, her bare flesh was cool against him. She sought out his warmth immediately, curled up against his chest and fell asleep. John wasn't exactly sure what to do with this sleeping woman against his chest, every woman he'd ever been in bed with left before they fell asleep. It was so peaceful to just lay with Jade, she slept quietly and occasionally twitched in her sleep. There was no arguing or anger, just silence mixed with her enticing smell- she smelled like camping. She let out a muffled yelp in her sleep and her arms twitched before she sniffled, was she crying? Could it be the same reason why she had been crying earlier? He felt sadness as he watched her, unable to comfort her, what were these new feelings he was having? His eyes grew heavy as sleep began to take him.

 

"John?!"

 

He startled awake to see Jade looking at him wide eyed from the other side of the bed, she had the blankets pulled up to her neck. "What did you do to me? Why are you in my bed!? in your underwear!"

 

"I didn't lay a hand on you, I carried you up here after you had a run in with the proximity feature of your electric nodes. You asked me to stay... So I did"

 

"What the fuck John?!" Jade yelled as she remembered the incident "That much voltage could have sent me into cardiac arrest!"

 

"But it didn't" he smiled weakly

 

"Get out!"

 

"Darling, I probably shouldn't uncover myself for a little bit"

 

Jade glanced down at John's crotch and noticed the slight tenting of the sheet that covered his lower half. She blushed and quickly looked back at his face. He was a very attractive man- but he was extra alluring right now- only in boxers, with an erection and his hair disheveled... a familiar heat already began to pool between her legs. "I want to try something, close your eyes"

 

"Yeah right" John chuckled

 

"Just do it!"

 

John hesitantly closed his eyes

 

Jade crawled quietly over toward John and gently kissed his soft lips

 

John let out a deep sigh and kissed her back. 

 

She stopped, he opened his eyes and looked at her quizzically

 

"What was that for?"

 

"For making sure I didn't choke on my tongue" she smirked before kicking him in the shin.

 

"FUCK" he yelled angrily

 

"and that is for implanting shit in my body without me knowing!!" she roared

 

John grabbed her by the neck and flipped her onto her back, pinning her. "Ahh Jade, glad to see you are back to your usual self. You had me worried that the shock had fried your brain..." He looked down at her with dark eyes and an unsettling smile. He ground his clothed erection against her center causing her to groan. "Your lust cries out to me Jade... I told you I'd have you on your knees screaming 'yes' for me."

 

He crawled off her and out of the bed "but regrettably- that's for another time. Now get dressed and come have breakfast. Joseph is coming by today." John gathered up his clothes and left the room.


	24. Chapter 24

Jade climbed out of bed and went to the closet and pulled out the mint green dress John had left for her weeks ago. She held it up and frowned at it.. she despised dresses but she wanted to try to look nice for Joseph when he came. She slipped it on with a pair of white sandals and headed toward the kitchen where she found John shirtless wearing only his sleep pants, the smell of freshly brewed coffee filled the space and Jade took a deep breath before speaking.

 

"John?"

 

He make a sound of acknowledgement but didn't turn around

 

"I need your help"

 

He turned around and saw her wearing the beautiful mint dress he had picked out for her, a wide smile crept over his face "I knew you'd look great in that"

 

She turned around and reached at the zipper

 

John took a step closer and set a hand on her hip as the other pulled up the zipper. "Don't move" he slid a hand down her back to the base of the tail and held it there. She heard him grab something off the counter and felt a tug of the fabric, he had cut a hole in the back of her dress.

 

She smiled as she felt his hand reach through and feed her tail through the newly made hole. Jade heard the familiar jingle of metal tags and felt cool leather on her skin as he secured another collar around her neck. "Perfect" he said softly and placed a kiss to the back of her neck.

 

"Aw come on..." she turned around to face John "I get it mr happy zapper. I'm not going anywhere." Jade whined as she felt at the collar

 

"This one is just leather. Only to display your sins" John smiled and poured them both a cup of coffee

 

Jade sat on the couch and picked up the Word of Joseph, it was probably a good idea to begin familiarizing herself with it anyway. John came into the room and saw her with the book and smiled.

 

"Well. I'm glad you're finally doing something intelligent"

 

Jade looked up and rolled her eyes at John. "So what are you up to today?"

 

"I have some baptisms this afternoon and some stuff to finish up at my bunker. I likely won't be back until 7-8 this evening"

 

"Try not to drown." she went back to reading

 

"Hilarious." John said flatly as he left.

 

Jade read throughout the morning and eventually fell asleep. When Joseph arrived he walked through the house and found Jade sleeping softly, curled up into the corner of the couch with his book open on her lap. He smiled as he walked over and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead "My Jade" he whispered. She lazily opened her eyes and smiled widely when she saw Joseph kneeling in front of her. "Joseph!" she leaned forward and hugged him tightly, she breathed in his wonderful scent. Jade's collar jingled as she moved, drawing Joseph's eyes downward, he furrowed his brow when he saw the leather collar. He looped a finger under the collar and tugged gently. "What's this?"

 

"A gift from John" Jade said dryly "it displays my sins. As you know marking my flesh doesn't exactly work...."

 

Joseph seemed to be in some sort of trance as he held the tags- "WRATH", he looked over the next one "LUST?" he looked up into Jade's eyes

 

"He knows we've been together Joseph. I'm not sure how"

 

"It's fine Jade, it doesn't change anything." he smiled "I have already atoned for our lust"

 

"What?"

 

Joseph gestured toward his abdomen and Jade saw that the 'lust' scar above his hips was cut open again.

 

Jade's eyes widened "Joseph! Who did this?"

 

"I did"

 

Jade's eyes began to fill with tears, it hurt her heart that she was partially responsible for the fresh wounds.

 

Joseph tugged again at her collar "Let's get this thing off of you"

 

"John has the key... if I break out of it he just replaces it" the tears began to flow

 

Joseph pulled her into a hug and grit his teeth as he tried to calm the anger he felt for his younger brother. "Why don't we go for a walk?"

 

Jade sniffled "sure"

 

Joseph stood and held out his hand for Jade, she took it, stood up and flattened out her dress

 

"You look incredible" Joseph said as he held her hand

 

Jade blushed

 

Joseph pulled her close and kissed her softly, she returned his kiss and wrapped her arms around him. Time stood still as they slowly kissed, Jade licked along Joseph lower lip, he groaned and allowed their tongues to dance together. Jade could feel Joseph becoming hard against her, she slid her hand down his abdomen and palmed the bulge in his jeans. Joseph hissed and pulled away.

 

"We can't.-" he panted "not until we've been united before God, I'm sorry Jade- we mustn't give in to our lust."

 

Jade groaned and walked out the front door onto the porch. Joseph went after her and held her hand as they walked. "I noticed you were reading my book"

 

"Yeah" Jade smiled "I wanted to try to understand more about the Project"

 

"That means a lot to me"

 

"I wanted to show you that we are more than just 'sexy friends', I care about you Joseph."

 

Joseph raised her hand to his mouth and kissed the back of her hand. "My Jade... You never cease to amaze me." 

 

All Jade could do was smile, she felt such relief that Joseph wasn't still hurt by her words from before. She looked up and noticed they were headed toward the forest. "Joseph, can we stay near John's house?"

 

"Since when do you not want to be in the forest?"

 

"Oh uh- I've just become fond of openness" Jade painfully lied. She wasn't sure why she was covering for John.

 

"Really?" Joseph furrowed his eyebrows

 

The rest of the day was fairly quiet. Joseph sat on the couch and wrote in his journal, there was some small talk and the cooking of dinner. Jade looked at the clock and noticed it was nearly 10 pm.

 

"That's weird.."

 

"hmm?" Joseph responded without looking up

 

"John said he'd be home by 8. It's almost 10-"

 

Joseph looked up at clock, Jade felt a pit forming in her stomach. 

 

"He's usually quite punctual." Joseph stated before he was interrupted by crackling from the radio on his hip

 

"Joseph Seed." Came a man's voice

 

Jade and Joseph exchanged glances before he replied "Who might this be?"

 

"This is Sheriff Earl Whitehorse"

 

"Earl? I thought Faith had him?" Jade asked

 

"I had her return him a few weeks ago, though it may calm the resistance after what Jacob did" Joseph spoke to Jade

 

"What do you need Sheriff?" 

 

"You sick fuck, not only did you kill one of my deputies but you strung her up on the church in Fall's End... It's payback time. We have your darling baby brother."

 

Jade's mouth dropped open as she stared at the radio

 

Joseph calm as ever spoke into the radio "Sheriff, I know you are in pain. Killing my brother will not remedy your feelings"

 

"It may not, but it sure ain't gonna make them worse. I will let him walk if you turn yourself in. You have until 2 am. Outside the Spread Eagle"   
The radio went dead

 

"Joseph! You can't"

 

"I have to. Don't worry my love God will not let any harm come to me." Joseph gently brushed her cheek with his thumb "I have to step outside and pray on this" he stood up and left

 

Jade paced frantically in the living room until she heard the radio come to life again- Joseph had left it on the couch. 

 

"Joseph" it was Jacob

 

Jade rushed over and grabbed the radio "He's outside, did you hear that call from the Sheriff!"

 

"I did. I take it he's with you then pup"

 

"He was, he just stepped outside to pray. He says he's going to trade himself"

 

"I figured he would, you better check he didn't go AWOL on you"

 

Jade ran out to the porch and scanned the property "Shit Jacob his truck is gone"

 

Jacob sighed "I better start making my way to Fall's End. You need to stop him pup"

 

"I-I can't... I can't leave the property."

 

"You can now, I've disabled the embedded nodes"

 

"You can do that?"

 

"I can, and I have. I'll see you in a bit"


	25. Chapter 25

John spat out a mouthful of blood, he sat handcuffed to a chair while his captors watched as Grace Armstrong beat the tar out of him. Another swift blow to the face and he was unconscious, his head fell forward and blood dripped from his nose and mouth onto his dress shirt.

 

"How pathetic" Grace sneered "You sure Joseph is coming? It's after 1"

 

"Easy Grace, I said 2." grumbled Sheriff Whitehorse

 

"I say we make Joseph watch us kill John, then turn around and kill Joseph."

 

"Things don't exactly go our way when it comes to Joseph- I don't want to do anything that could potentially jeopardize this trade off"

 

"Fine. You're right." Grace sighed and returned to surveying the road in front of the bar.

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Jade jumped off the porch and hopped into one of the extra peggie trucks, the engine started up and she was off, she squeezed her eyes shut as she crossed the threshold to the property- no zap. 

 

Jade flew down the road on her way to Fall's End she kept a sharp eye out for Joseph but saw nothing, her heart raced as she thought of how she was going to handle this situation. It wasn't long before Fall's End was in view, she parked well outside the perimeter and was pleased to find a pair of binoculars on the seat next to her. She looked through them and counted 15 peggies standing around their vehicles, which were parked by the church. She scanned frantically for Joseph, finally she spotted him, he was descending the path on the far side and joined his flock. Joseph looked calm as he spoke with his followers, Jade glanced at the clock 1:45. 

 

Jade looked up as she heard the familiar sound of Jacob's jeep coming up the road behind her, she stuck her arm out the window and flagged him down. He stopped beside her and eyed the truck

 

"You drove here?"

 

"Uh yeah?"

 

"I just thought you'd be a little hairier..."

 

"I thought about it. But I needed to talk first. Can you kinda fill in the peg- errr.. I mean flock.. As in, make sure they don't fucking shoot me."

 

Jacob laughed "if you think you're ready pup"

 

"I am"

 

Jacob smiled and drove on toward the other parked vehicles.

 

"Alright Jade let's rescue that asshole John" she sighed to herself as she exited the truck, she pulled the mint dress over her head, balled it up and threw it into the bed of the truck. As Jade phased her collar popped off and fell into the grass, once complete she looked back in at the clock in the truck- 1:50. 

 

Jade silently crept along the backs of the buildings as she made her way toward the rear of the Spread Eagle, she silently offed 3 Resistance members and hid their bodies. She remembered there were a couple windows in the room she used to stay in over the bar, she slid along the back of the bar and easily climbed up to the second floor. She peered into one of the windows and saw a Resistance sniper- she looked vaguely familiar.

 

"Hey Grace! It's time! Cover us, there are quite a few peggies out there" shouted Whitehorse

 

"You got it" Grace replied

 

'Grace Armstrong' Jade thought to herself 'Guess she made it back from Afghanistan...'

 

A few different voices could be heard from downstairs as they assembled and stepped out of the bar. As soon as Jade heard the front door of the bar close behind them she jumped through the window. As Grace turned to look, Jade swiped her claws swiftly across Grace's neck- not only severing her carotid artery but also exposing the musculature and her trachea. A spray of blood went up the side of Jade and hit the ceiling before Grace fell motionless to the ground. 

 

With Grace out of the way Jade was able to peek out the window where the rifle was positioned. She saw another sniper on the roof across the street and silently took him out. She looked down at the road and saw John handcuffed and being pushed forward by Whitehorse followed by 8 other Resistance members. 

 

Whitehorse raised a megaphone to his mouth "Joseph Seed, come forward!"

 

Joseph and 4 of his followers had already begun walking down the middle of the road toward John. Jade saw Joseph's face briefly twist in anger when he saw the condition John was in. 

 

Jade quietly made her way down the stairs and disposed of another Resistance member keeping watch by the front door to the bar. She went out the door quietly, took a deep breath and stepped out into the road behind the group of Resistance members that held John.

 

Joseph smiled and she saw the fear spread across the faces of his followers. She took another deep breath before she let out a loud roar, the Resistance members turned around quickly and saw Jade standing 7ft tall, teeth bared and claws ready- she quickly lept into action before they could process what they were seeing. She tore through the group with ease, blood sprayed, people screamed, torn up bodies littered the ground around her. All Resistance members were dead but Sheriff Whitehorse who still held on to John. Him and John were both covered in the fresh blood, Whitehorse was pale as a ghost as he stared at Jade and his fallen comrades.

 

Jade took a step forward, flattened her ears to her head and growled menacingly.

 

"Joseph! What in the hell is that!?" Whitehorse yelled as he began backing away with John.

 

John winced and coughed out a laugh "I don't think she's too fond of you Sheriff"

 

Whitehorse looked at John and pushed him forward toward Jade. She caught John before he fell forward and bashed his already broken face on the pavement. Jade looked back up at Whitehorse to see that he had began running back toward his vehicle, Jade growled.

 

"Don't worry about him Jade, let him tell the others." Joseph spoke calmly as he approached her. He held out his hand and Jade leaned down and pressed her cheek against his open palm. "Come, let us get John medical attention"

 

Joseph's followers moved forward to assist John back to the vehicles but Jade blocked them from reaching him and growled when they tried to go around her. John looked up at her with the eye that wasn't swollen shut and looked back at the frightened followers "It's ok men, Jade will walk me back"

 

Joseph watched the exchange and nodded before turning and leading his men back.

 

Jade looked at John and gestured to carry him. John laughed and then winced "You can carry me when I'm dead..". Jade tilted her head then came down onto all fours so she was lower, John compromised and grabbed a fistful of her fur to support himself as they slowly walked behind Joseph. 

 

Jade handed John off to Jacob and remained by the truck, hushed whispers could be heard from the flock members as they huddled together and shot glances at Jade, her confidence was fading fast- she wanted to cower like a turtle in it's shell. 

 

"You look like shit" Jacob said to John as he helped him into Joseph's truck

 

"You aren't exactly a vision" John grumbled

 

Once John was settled Jacob turned to Jade "You did good pup" he could tell she was zoning out, becoming skittish about the people around. "Jade. Hey. They won't hurt you, they just have never seen anything like you before..."

 

Jade looked at Jacob and nodded.

 

"Joseph, we're ready to go" Jacob waved toward Joseph

 

"Of course" he nodded and walked quickly back to the truck

 

Jade climbed into the bed of the truck and waited. Everyone got into their vehicles and set out. Jade enjoyed the ride in the back of truck, the wind through her fur, and the changing scents in the cool night air. At one point she closed her eyes and leaned her head over the side into the wind and let her long tongue hang out, Joseph noticed in his side mirror and smiled lovingly at her.

 

"What are you smiling at?" John inquired

 

"Jade" his smile remained

 

John turned and looked out the back window and chuckled lightly "now that's attractive.."

 

It didn't take them very long to get back to John's ranch, Faith was waiting on the porch and ran up to the truck as Joseph parked.

 

"Joseph, I heard what happened and rushed over."

 

"John is beat up pretty good, Jacob is on his way to patch him up"

 

Jade jumped out of the back of the truck and opened John's door. She stood still for him to use her for support as he exited the truck. She helped John up the steps to the porch and handed him to Faith who helped get him inside.

 

Jade turned and looked at Joseph, he was still standing on the porch, he looked relieved to have John back.

 

Though it was the middle of the night Jade was determined to get use of her freedom and snuck along the side of the house and into the night. Joseph turned to where Jade had been standing but she was gone, he stood and looked out into the night and let out a deep sigh. Jacob rolled up the driveway not long after.

 

"John is inside with Faith"

 

Jacob walked up the steps of the porch carrying what looked to be a duffle bag of first aid supplies.

 

"Jacob?"

 

"Yeah?" he paused as he opened the front door

 

"Where is the gps locator for Jade?"

 

"She take off?" Jacob raised an eyebrow

 

"I have no doubts she'll return. I'm just curious where she is"

 

"Ah. Well. As soon as I get John patched up we'll take a look"

 

Joseph nodded and followed Jacob inside.

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Jade filled her lungs with the clean forest air as she hunted. There was a bear in the area, she hoped that if anything it would be lured to her by the smell of the blood that covered her. She was close to it, the smell of the creature grew stronger as she neared. It was up ahead drenched in the moonlight feeding on some berries that had started ripening, the bears ears flicked in Jade's direction, it had to have smelled her from at least a mile away. It stood up on it's back legs and sniffed at the air, Jade stood from the bush she was crouching in, the bear caught sight of her and roared before it charged.

 

A dense thud sounded as their large bodies collided, muscles rippled and hair flew as they fought in the small clearing. The bear managed to land a blow of it sharp claws over Jade's left eye, she felt her hot blood trickle through her fur. Jade sprang forward and bit down on the side of the bears neck, it groaned as it succumbed to the bite.

 

It felt like ages since Jade had hunted, she needed this. She ate her fill and laid back and looked up at the night sky. Guilt began to creep up on her and soon her memory was flooded with the frightened faces of the people she killed. She slowly felt through her fur, parts were thick and matted with blood. She needed to get clean, the smell of the human blood was beginning to make her panic. She knew there was water near by, John would often take people there to get baptized. She got up and began making her way to the water.

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

"Well John, they beat on you pretty good. You've got a broken nose, a split lip, a few cracked ribs and a sprained knee."

 

John groaned "Thanks Jacob"

 

"I brought some bliss for you John, it should really help with your pain- this is a new strain I've been working on" Faith piped in

 

"Ah Faith that was kind of you" Joseph spoke calmly as usual

 

"I just need some rest" John flipped the blanket back over himself 

 

"Alright. Just radio if you need anything" Faith spoke as they exited the room

 

Once downstairs Joseph paced the floor as he thought about Jade

 

"What's eating Joseph?" Faith leaned over and whispered to Jacob

 

"He doesn't know where Jade is" Jacob replied in a hushed tone as he pulled out his laptop from his bag "I'll be able to track her in a sec"

 

"Joseph?" Jacob interrupted Joseph's thoughts "I'm just setting up the laptop so we can locate Jade"

 

"Great" he walked over and watched over Jacob's shoulder

 

A map of the area opened and a small light flashed indicating Jade's location, it was moving. Jacob was pleased to see that the tracking node was working. "Looks like she's just outside the property line headed toward the river"

 

The front door closed before Jacob could even finish his sentence. 

 

Joseph walked hurriedly toward the river, he didn't need a flashlight- the moon lit up the earth beautifully. He heard movement in the water up ahead and when he got up to the bank he saw Jade scrubbing vigorously at her fur. He furrowed his eyebrows and began to wade into the cool water.

 

"Jade" he said softly

 

She looked up at him and flattened her ears to her head before looking back at the water

 

"What's wrong?" Joseph continued out into until he was waist deep in the water standing beside her. "Ah the blood. Let me help you"

 

Jade sunk down into the water more and allowed Joseph to work his hands through her fur, he gently massaged the matted hair loose and raised up handfuls of water to wet her head. He rubbed around her face and stopped when he felt the open wounds around her left eye. "What happened here?"

 

Jade sighed before making eye contact with him and then tried to mimic the bear, she brought her hands up to look aggressive and she bared her teeth.

 

"A fight?"

 

Jade nodded

 

"The only thing around here that could do that is a bear..." he raised an eyebrow as he looked at her

 

She nodded again

 

"What happened to it?"

 

Jade opened her mouth and pointed inside it

 

"You ate it!?" he said in disbelief and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Well the blood it off, lets go back to the house and get you dried off"

 

They both walked out of the water but Jade waited for Joseph to make it up the path aways before she shook off, spraying water in a large radius around her. She ran up to Joseph and held his hand as they walked the rest of the way back to the house.

 

Joseph walked up the front steps and opened the front door "Jacob?" he quietly spoke, nothing. "Faith?"

 

Faith came up to the door to greet Joseph and her eyes widened when she saw him standing in wet clothes with an even wetter Jade behind him. "I'll go get some towels"

 

"Thanks"

 

She quickly returned with a stack of towels and handled them to Joseph. He held one of them open and walked over to Jade. "You can phase back if you want, I'll dry you"

 

Jade smiled and fell forward on all fours, her back arched and she contorted before her fur faded began to fade, leaving her hunched naked on the ground

 

Joseph held out a hand for her, she took it as she stood up, he wrapped the large towel around her and swiped a calloused thumb over the spot where the bear had slashed Jade over the eye. She leaned her head into his touch and they stood looking at one another.

 

"Wow Jade! I've never seen you transform before!" Faith said excitedly- interrupting the moment.

 

Joseph and Jade both blinked as they were brought back out of their world

 

Oh.. sorry if I scared you." Jade smiled apologetically

 

  
"You don't ever have to apologize for that! Come inside before you guys catch a cold!" Faith turned and held open the door for the others.

 

Jacob was laying on the couch snoring loudly

 

"I waited up to make sure you returned safely" Faith said chipper as usual

 

"Thank you Faith, lets all rest now" Joseph spoke

 

He gently rested a hand on Jade's lower back and guided her up to her room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you guys are enjoying this so far :)


	26. Chapter 26

After Joseph quietly closed the bedroom door behind them he turned around to face Jade, she was still wrapped in a large towel. He smiled lightly and caressed the side of her face.

 

Jade leaned into his touch before she leaned forward and stood up on her tip toes ""How about we get you out of those wet clothes" she whispered in Joseph's ear before nipping lightly at his ear.

 

Joseph groaned

 

Jade's hands went down his bare torso and went to his large belt buckle, she swiftly undid it and his pants before he grabbed her hands in his. She whined and looked up, his face was stern but his eyes gave him away- he was just as hungry as she was. "Please Joseph, I need you"

 

"Marry me Jade, become mine"

 

"Joseph..." she sighed "I already am yours, can't you see that?" 

 

"Then why is marriage an issue?"

 

"I don't deserve to get married, to live happily ever after or whatever..." She looked at the ground "I'm a monster"

 

Joseph wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly "My Jade." he rested his chin on the top of her head "I have encountered some true monsters in my life and you- you are one of the farthest things from that. You deserve to be happy, you are worth that and so much more. You'll be an amazing wife and mother- not only to the flock but to our children..."

 

"Our children?"

 

"Why yes, I was worried at first when we didn't use any protection- but once we are married I'm sure you will soon become round with our child"

 

Jade began to feel panic and nausea rise in her, she broke out of Joseph's hug and went to her dresser. She pulled out an old pair of John's jeans and tossed them to Joseph. "I'm sorry, Joseph. I need time."

 

He looked at her wide eyed before concern washed over his face "What's wrong?"

 

"I-I can't." Jade put her hands up and began to back away, her eyes began to fill with tears

 

"Whatever you need. I have to return to my compound, please try to get some rest. I'm sorry I overwhelmed you, radio me if you need to talk."

 

"I will"

 

"Jade" Joseph paused at the door "Thank you for everything, not just for your actions today... but for everything. I'll return after my sermons later today."

 

Mixed emotions waged war on Jade as she watched Joseph leave. She wanted nothing more than to be with him, Joseph made her feel worthy of something more and for the first time in her life she believed it. One thing stood in her way- pregnancy, and she needed to figure out how to talk to Joseph about it.

 

   
The early hours of the morning passed slowly as sleep eluded Jade. She tossed restlessly and when she was able to fall asleep she was startled awake by nightmarish visions of killing people and a world on fire.

 

Jade turned over and looked at the clock. 6 am. 'Ugh, may as well just get up..' she crawled out of bed, got dressed and made her way to the kitchen for some much needed caffeine.

 

Faith skipped merrily into the kitchen when she heard commotion in the kitchen. "Good morning Jade!"

 

"Oh hey. Want some coffee?"

 

"No thank you" she leaned closer "coffee gives me the trots" she whispered then giggled

 

"Thanks for sharing...." Jade sat flatly. Bodily functions were never a good topic to discuss with her. "Have you been up to check on John yet?"

 

"No not yet"

 

"I'll pour him some coffee, why don't you get going? I'm sure you have lots to do"

 

"Oh I don't know, Joseph told me to watch him. Speaking of, he seemed really off last night! When you went off on your own he made Jacob track you and-"

 

"Track me??" Jade turned to Faith and raised an eyebrow

 

"Yeah. He was able to see your location on a map on Jacob's computer and took off! I've never seen him like that!"

 

Jade's heart sank as Faith babbled away. Joseph knew where she was?  Now that she thought about it- it was kind of weird that he just appeared at the river earlier. Did he also know about the other implants? Were they his idea? Was she just some kind of pawn he used in his battle for Hope County's soul? She felt completely betrayed. 

 

"Jade are you ok?" Faith noticed Jade was starting to look pale and rock on her heels

 

Jade snapped back into reality "Yeah sorry. I..um- just really need my coffee" she smiled weakly "Let me take care of John, please."

 

"I guess that should be ok. I do have a lot to do... Thanks Jade!" Faith spun around and fluttered off

 

Jade grabbed the cups of coffee and made her way back up the stairs and gently knocked on John's door before she entered the room. "John?" nothing. She set down the coffee on the dresser and pulled open the drapes, allowing the sun in to light up the room.

 

John hissed and pulled his pillow over his head

 

"Ah quit complaining, I brought you some coffee." Jade went over and pulled the pillow of his head.

 

"Well aren't you a saint. For what do I owe this unrequested awakening?" he sat up gingerly and reached for the mug of coffee that Jade was handing him.

 

"Just came in to check on you, I sent Faith home."

 

"Oh? and where is Jacob?"

 

"My guess is that he is still asleep... I can actually feel the vibrations through the house from his snoring."

 

John lightly chuckled 

 

"Well you don't look as bad as you did earlier. Jacob stitched your lip back up." Jade walked into the bathroom and returned with a bowl of clean water and a wash cloth. She sat on the side of the bed and dipped the cloth in the water, she wrung it out and lightly dabbed John's face. He was still in the bloody clothes from earlier and his hair was greasy and disheveled. 

 

"I think you're going to need more than a bowl of water John" she sighed as she looked him over.

 

John looked down at himself and a look of disgust took over his features... "in my bed..., these sheets are ruined"

 

Jade laughed as she walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower. She came back and flipped the blankets off John, "can you walk?"

 

"Not without help, Jacob said my knee is sprained"

 

"How did you manage to do that?!"

 

"That witch of a woman- Armstrong, wasn't exactly gentle when she nabbed me"

 

"Well she's dead now if that makes you feel better..." Jade said as she extended a hand to John

 

John paused and smiled "it does actually" he took her hand and stood up, he hobbled to the bathroom "I need to take a piss before I get in the shower" 

 

"You have thirty seconds" Jade smiled and left the bathroom

 

When she returned John was leaning against the sink looking at himself in the mirror, both his eyes were now a lovely shade of purple, and his nose was swollen. "How'd you kill her?"

 

"I ripped out her throat"

 

A smile crept across John's face

 

"Come on, just get in the shower"

 

"I need help undressing. I have cracked ribs too"

 

Jade rolled her eyes and stepped toward John. "You won't get away with that for very long" she said as she undid the remaining buttons from his dress shirt and helped him slide it off, next she undid his belt buckle "You can do the rest Seed"

 

"You should join me" John smiled wickedly "You smell like wet dog"

 

"Very funny" Jade smiled "I had to swim in the river to wash off all the blood from saving your ungrateful ass.... And just how do you think Joseph would react if he knew we were naked together?"

 

"Who said he had to find out?" John's smile remained as he awkwardly shimmied out of his jeans and kicked them before he stepped into the shower. Jade sighed and followed soon after, she stood facing John's back. It wasn't long before he turned around to face her, he squeezed out some body wash from his massive stash of shower products and began to lather up himself up. His large tattooed hands moved over his scarred, tattooed chest before they began making their way further down his body toward his bathing suit area. Jade couldn't look away as she watched him work the lather over his semi erect cock. John knew she was watching and looked up to see her flat out staring while biting her lower lip.

 

"It's rude to stare" he said darkly

 

Jade smiled and reached for the bottle of body wash. She squeezed some out into her hand before she began to lather up her own body, making sure to move slowly over her breasts. John's actions screeched to a halt as he watched her, the trail of soap washed down her smooth flesh and over her curves. She looked up and innocently at John "It's rude to stare John"

 

That wicked smile returned to John's face "Touché"

 

Jade reached out a hand and began lathering John's chest

 

He watched her actions intently as she began moving her hand slowly down his body stopping along his waist. John's now erect cock twitched, he looked at Jade through lust blown eyes and cupped one of her breasts in his palm and brushed a thumb over her hardened nipple- making her gasp quietly. John continued to pull sounds from Jade as he worked his hands over her chest, he dipped his head down and began to lick at one of her nipples while his hand pinched at the other. He grabbed one of Jade's hands with his free hand and brought it to his cock, and let out a groan when she began to circle her thumb around the head before slowly beginning to stroke him.

 

A knock came from John's bedroom door before Jacob's voice could be heard "Hey John?"

 

Jade jumped backward from John and nearly slipped over from all the suds.

 

"Would you calm down!" John hissed at Jade

 

"I'm just in the shower Jacob!" John yelled

 

"You got in there yourself?" Jacob asked

 

"Jade is helping me" 

 

Jade shot John a death look and kicked his shin "shhhhhhh"

 

John grit his teeth and wrapped a large hand around Jade's neck

 

"Ohhh is she now" Jacob said suggestively

 

"Jacob! Come on. Really?" Jade yelled, though he was completely right

 

"Ah sorry pup, couldn't help it. Come talk to me downstairs when you're done" Jacob closed the door behind him

 

John released his grasp on Jade's neck, "Holy fuck... that was close " she panted as she reached around him to grab one of the bottles of shampoo. She quickly washed her hair and her tail before she squeezed more into her hand "lower your head" she motioned to John- who complied. Jade stepped out of the shower, dried off and redressed.

 

"That was fast" John spoke as he stepped out of the shower "I was hoping you'd still be naked"

 

Jade smiled and handed him a towel "That's a dangerous game John, especially in your current condition. Speaking of- I'm going to ask Jacob to find you a crutch"

 

"Oh and for the record-" John spoke as Jade was leaving "I am thankful you came to my aid"

 


	27. Chapter 27

It was near sunset by the time Joseph returned to John's ranch. His day was busy with sermons, prayers over the sick or wounded and other various duties around his compound.

  
John was resting on the leather couch by the fire arguing with Jacob about something, Joseph didn't exactly hear what- his mind was occupied by looking for Jade. He found her in the kitchen getting a glass of water. "Jade" he smiled with relief and hugged her from behind "Lets go for a walk?".

 

Jade shrugged "sure". This was a perfect opportunity to see if Joseph knew about the property boundaries that now haunted Jade. Jacob had to have turned the settings back on by now. It was going to hurt- but she needed to know. 'Lets begin' she though to herself as she sucked in a breath.

 

The two exited through the kitchen door, "Don't you want some shoes?" Joseph asked

 

"Nah, I like the feeling of the earth under my feet"

 

He stopped the bottom the stairs and kicked off his boots to join her bare foot.

 

Jade smiled and reached out to hold his hand, together they walked through the lush grass toward the forest. Joseph stopped her at the edge "I know you said you liked the openness of the ranch but I'd really like to walk through the woods if you're ok with that?"

 

Jade blinked, was he trying to hurt her? "That sounds lovely" she lied 

 

Joseph went ahead of her and looked back at her curiously as she hesitated joining him

 

One step. Two steps. Three steps. WHAM! Jade fell to the forest floor convulsing.

 

Joseph immediately ran to her before he began yelling frantically for help

 

Pain flooded Jade's body as her muscles spasmed out of control

 

Jacob had heard yelling coming from outside and quickly jumped off the deck and ran toward Joseph's cries for help, when he arrived and saw Jade he swallowed hard. "We have to get her back on the property"

 

"What!?" Joseph yelled as he scooped up Jade and bolted toward the house.

 

Within moments of coming out of the forest Jade quit convulsing and now layed limp in Joseph's arms "Jacob!"

 

"She's ok. She's just paralyzed" Jacob tried to calm Joseph "I can shut it down from inside the house"

 

"Shut it down?!" Joseph fumed

 

"Joseph please. We did it for her own good"

 

Joseph shot Jacob a searing look "Fix her- Then we will talk."

 

They returned to the house, Joseph laid Jade on the other leather couch while Jacob worked on his laptop. Once Jacob disarmed the nodes he and John exchanged worried looks before looking at Jade- they knew they were in deep shit.

 

Jade groaned as the paralysis lifted. Joseph crouched beside her to comfort her. "Joseph?" she croaked as she came to

 

"You're safe" he spoke soothingly as he rubbed the side of her face. Joseph stood and turned to look at Jacob- his rage had returned. "What have you done?" he hissed

 

"I had the surgeons implant electrical nodes in some of her muscles. I've been using the technology on my Judges, if they become unruly or go out of range an electric current shocks the shit out of them until they return to range. Then they are paralyzed until we are able to pick them up.... I did it for our protection until we knew her better-"

 

The normally calm Joseph lept at Jacob and landed a heavy blow to the side of Jacob's head. Jacob was knocked back a few steps and held out his hands in submission.

 

Jade couldn't believe what she was seeing, neither could John.

 

"You will right your wrong Jacob and you will atone. You have let your sin and paranoia blind you. I agreed to the tracking node... not this. You have betrayed me."

 

Jacob stared at the floor for a while before he spoke "I'm sorry Joseph. I will remove the implants"

 

Joseph backed off and returned to Jade. She smiled weakly at him. He scooped her up gently and carried her up to her room and set her on her bed. "Thank you" she held out her hand to him

 

Joseph closed the door and returned to her. "I wish you told me sooner..." his eyes saddened

 

"I was scared that you knew about it, that you were keeping me as some type of pet"

 

Tears began to stream down Joseph's face. "I would never harm you Jade or take your freedom. You are a member of this family... I've never seen you as a _pet_ " his face twisted in hurt as he said 'pet'.

 

Jade reached up to Joseph's face, she wiped away his tears then reached her hand behind his neck and tugged at him to lay down with her. He layed down and held her, she ran her fingers gently through his beard as he hummed amazing grace. Once he finished he kissed the top of her head, "have you been sleeping ok?"

 

"No actually... I've been having horrible nightmares, and they are getting worse."

 

"What are they about?"

 

"Killing people or the people I have killed... I see their frightened faces. It brings back some bad memories of some stuff I've done"

 

"Have you confessed these things to John?"

 

"No, I've never told anyone"

 

"Confess to me Jade, I will help you find peace"

 

"Well- I was born and grew up here in Hope County, my mother died when I was young so I was raised by my father. He was a decent man, he worked hard to provide a life for us. I graduated school and was hired on as a deputy, everything was going fine until I began showing signs of our hereditary condition- lycanthropy. My father was so proud and explained to me what was happening, I was horrified. I had been locked in the basement for days while my first phase happened- the pain was like nothing I've ever experienced before. On the final night my father came to check on me, I was delirious from the pain..." Jade began to sob against Joseph's chest "I attacked him- he didn't have a chance to phase to protect himself. I ripped him apart Joseph."  
Joseph stayed quiet and held her as she spoke

 

"When I was able to phase back I had no memory of what I had done, I found him and called the Sheriff. We had no idea what had happened and assumed it was an animal attack... It was days later when I was sitting on the basement steps staring at his blood stains when I was flooded with the memories of what had happened. I set the house on fire and ran, I couldn't trust myself, so I disappeared... for years I lived as an animal, with nothing and no one- until one day I happened across a foul smell in the air and followed it to a bliss crop and ended up in Hope County again."

 

"Jade, your father's death was an accident..." he spoke calmly as he held Jade close "The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh... You are not the only one to be tested.. pain and sacrifice. The tests we have endured make us who we are today- you've saved people Jade, you've saved me."

  
Jade sniffled "and I'd save you again"

 

"It's my turn to save you my child" Joseph tilted Jade's head up and kissed her.

 

Jade returned his kiss as Joseph rolled her onto her back and crawled over her without their mouths parting. She breathed in his scent, she could never seem to get enough of him. Jade rested a hand on the back of his head and the other on his bare side. Their slow kiss began to evolve into something more fevered and urgent. Their tongues fought, Joseph began to kneed at Jade's breasts and Jade gripped his side tightly. 

 

When Joseph made his way to her nipple and began rolling his thumb over the sensitive lump she lost it, she sucked in a breath and ground her hips up against him. He was already painfully hard and ground himself back down against her, they ground hard against each other each before Jade whined, needing more "Joseph please, I can't wait anymore. I need you inside me" 

 

"I want nothing more than to feel you wrapped around me Jade" he panted "it's on my mind more than I'd care to admit. What if you get pregnant?"

 

"Joseph" her face became somber as she looked into his hungry blue eyes "you can't get me pregnant... female lycanthopes are extremely rare, and when we are born- we're sterile..."

 

Joseph furrowed his eyebrows and sat up 

 

"I'm so sorry Joseph. I know you wanted a family" Jade looked down and teared up "I'd give you one if I could"

 

"Jade" Joseph pressed his forehead against hers "if kids aren't in God's plan for us than so be it."

 

"Just like that?"

 

"God has given you to me Jade. You are far too precious to me for something like that to change how I feel about you. You are my family" he leaned back down and kissed her. "Rest my child, there will be plenty of time for us to be together"

 

"You're right. I'm exhausted, getting zapped always drains me."

 

"Jacob will be righting that wrong soon enough. After your healed I want to baptize you- both of your shapes."

 

"If it means that much to you.."

  
"It does. It will help you feel better too" he ran a hand through her messy hair "I should return to my compound, it's getting late"

 

"Why don't you just stay?"

 

Joseph smiled weakly and stared at his hands "I am far to weak now to resist the temptation of your flesh, you have a mysterious power over me Jade- like no other. I'll return when I can."

 

The last thing Jade remembered was hearing the door shut behind Joseph as he left before she passed out.


	28. Chapter 28

Weeks had passed despite Joseph's constant reminders before Jacob finally set a date to remove the implants from Jade's muscles. 

 

Jade was sleeping less and less, John was the only one who truly knew the toll it was taking on her. He would often hear her crying or wandering the house at night, Jade had kept her distance from him after their encounter in the shower while he injured and it bothered John, he wanted to comfort her in some way but didn't know how.

 

It was the night before the procedure, all Seed's were present at the ranch except Joseph- he had a sermon that evening and in the morning.   
Faith insisted on being there as well, even though her presence wasn't necessary. Months ago when she found out that Jade was immune to bliss, she and her chemists began a secret side project out of the watchful eye of Joseph. The fact that there was someone Faith couldn't manipulate with the bliss ate at her constantly and she was determined to change that- the coming surgery was a perfect opportunity to try out the new drug.

 

The night passed uneventfully and everyone went to bed. As usual Jade lay wide awake as her mind raced, she looked forward to getting the implants removed in the morning, she needed to get out into the woods again. She rolled over and looked at the clock in the bedside table- 4am. She got out of bed wearing a sports bra and shorts and headed down the stairs to the kitchen, as she rummaged around she accidentally knocked a precariously placed metal baking sheet off the counter with her tail sending it crashing to the ground and sliding across the tile.  
Jade winced and scrunched up her face as the sound echoed through the kitchen. "fucking shit" she said under her breath as she crawled under the table to retrieve the tray. When she stood up she was startled to see John standing in the doorway wearing only sleep pants, he had his arms crossed across his bare chest and an annoyed look on his face.

 

"John. You scared me! Sorry if I woke you."

 

"How could I sleep with you throwing things around in the kitchen... Why are you down here anyway? Can't sleep again?"

 

Jade sighed and looked at the floor "It's been weeks John, I'm so tired.."

 

John's annoyed expression turned to one of pity "I've got something we can try, go sit on the couch. I'll be right there."

 

Jade nodded and ghosted past John and sat down on the couch, propped her elbows on her knees and rested her head in her hands, she closed her eyes- they burned with exhaustion. It wasn't long before she felt John sit down beside her. Jade opened her eyes and watched him unscrew a bottle and poor some of the liquid into a glass.

 

"Here"

 

Jade took the glass from him and sniffed at it curiously, the smell stung her nose- it was definitely alcohol. "booze? really?"

 

John chuckled as he poured himself a glass "Rum"

 

Jade hated the taste of liquor so rather than sip it and suffer, she gulped it back like a shot and shivered. She felt it burn all the way down to her stomach before it began radiating heat through her abdomen.

 

"Why aren't you sleeping Jade?" John asked quietly as he sipped at his glass, his bue eyes pierced the night as he looked at Jade for answers.

 

"I keep seeing the people I've killed...." she began to cry "or I have nightmare about killing other people." 

 

"You are not the only one who is haunted by their demons" he refilled her glass. "You can get through this Jade"

 

"I wish you guys would have just killed me..." she gulped back the glass of rum and went to stand, John quickly grabbed her wrist and pulled her back down to the couch.

 

John roughly set his glass on the table and held Jade's face to make eye contact with her "Dying is not an option Jade. If Joseph has taught me anything it's that 'Our sins do not define us' you can always ask for forgiveness and be washed clean to start anew" 

 

Jade swallowed and tried to change the subject "You should go back to bed John, lots to do in the morning."

 

"You're right- there is lots to do. But from now on I'm not leaving you alone at night"

 

"What?" Jade pulled her head out of John's hands and stared at him wide eyed

 

"You heard me." John laid back on the couch and pulled Jade down with him "get comfortable"

 

Jade was too tired to argue, she pulled the blanket over them from the back of the couch and nuzzled against John's bare chest as he wrapped his arms around her protectively. His breathing was quiet and he smelled kind of like Joseph- earthy, she felt safe for the first time in a while and was able to drift off to sleep.

 

9am Joseph arrived at the ranch, the house was quiet as he walked inside. He heard breathing coming from the couch and walked over to find Jade peacefully sleeping in the embrace of his brother and a bottle of rum beside them on the table. Joseph's eye twitched as his mind raced with the possibilities of why the two were sleeping together, he felt his temper rising, he grabbed the bottle of rum and forced himself to walk away. He stood on the porch and leaned on the railing, he took a swig of the rum and sank deep into thought. 

 

"That seem's like a healthy breakfast" Jacob spoke as he walked out on the porch and saw the bottle of rum in his brothers hand. "Rough night? Seems to be going around."

 

Joseph turned and handed Jacob the bottle "What do you mean?"

 

John walked through the door still shirtless and joined his brothers on the porch. "I thought I heard you guys out here"

 

Joseph shot John a dangerous look

 

"I see you found my rum, I'm sorry Joseph- I like to keep alcohol around for emergencies..."

 

Jacob smiled and nudged John's shoulder "helped you out last night didn't it" he said suggestively "saw you guys still cuddled up this morning" 

 

Joseph's face turned red as his entire body began to burn with anger and jealousy.

 

John laughed "It helped for sure. But not in the way you are so rudely insinuating Jacob." John looked over at Joseph and noticed how red he had become, he even had a vein protruding from his forehead- a telltale sign his patience was gone. "It's Jade." this time he spoke directly at Joseph, not breaking eye contact. "She hasn't slept in weeks, at night she wanders the house or cries in her room. She said that she wished that we just killed her... She is deeply troubled Joseph" 

 

Joseph's anger quickly vanished "Is she still sleeping?"

 

"She was when I left her" 

 

"We should begin removing the implants soon" interrupted Jacob

 

"I'll go let her know. Is 20 minutes enough time for you to set up Jacob?"

 

"Yeah that will be fine"

 

"I'll go put on a pot of coffee" John said as he walked back into the house followed by Joseph and Jacob

 

Joseph went to the couch where Jade slept, knelt down beside her and placed a soft kiss on her forehead.

 

"Nnnnn John what the fuck" Jade grumbled with her eyes still closed

 

"Try again" Joseph smiled

 

Jade opened her eyes and smiled when she saw it was Joseph who woke her.

 

"I love when you greet me with your smile"

 

Jade reached up and hugged him, he held her tightly with his chin rested on top of her head and spoke softly "Jacob is getting things ready for your procedure. Do you feel ready?"

 

"I am so ready" Jade broke the hug when she heard footsteps approaching

 

"Alright pup, I need you to go take a shower then come down in this gown- the opening goes toward the back."

 

Jade yawned "Alright, I'll be back down shortly" She stood and took the garment from Jacob as she headed up the stairs.

 

Joseph watched her as she walked up the stairs and disappeared into John's room.

 

"You sure have quite the fixation on Jade there Joseph, coming off a little strong"

 

Joseph blushed lightly "Sorry. Must be the rum."

 

"I think it's more than the rum Joseph, I've seen how you are around her when your sober"

 

"I care for her greatly Jacob. I won't lie to you."

 

"Coffee is ready!" John yelled from the kitchen interrupting the conversation

 

Joseph cleared his throat and went to the kitchen

 

Jade showered quickly, dried off and slipped on the gown Jacob had given her to put on. "You've got to be kidding me? The whole back is open!" she turned and saw her tail and bare ass in the mirror. Thankfully there were a few string along the opening she could tie together to keep the gown from just hanging open. She exited the bathroom and was startled when Faith stepped out in front of her and blew a cloud of powdery dust into her face. "BAH Faith! Really!?" she sneezed a couple times "didn't they tell you that shit doesn't work on me!?"

 

"Oh right! Silly me! I thought it might help you through your surgery."

 

Jade coughed "It won't. That stuff reeks" She shook her head as she walked passed Faith and headed downstairs

 

Faith smiled darkly as she watched Jade leave the room.


	29. Chapter 29

By the time Jade made it down the stairs she began to feel light headed. She assumed it was the rum from earlier disagreeing with her and ignored it.

 

Jacob was setting things up on the large dining room table, Jade walked over and stood beside him. He was massive compared to her. 

 

"You gonna look after me doc?" she smiled innocently and looked up at him

 

"Of course I am pup. I'll do my best not to hurt you. You can lay on the table now if you want, I have to mark your skin where I need to make the cuts."

 

Jade nodded and hopped up onto the table and laid flat on her back on the fancy sheet/tarp combo that was spread out under her. 

 

Jacob leaned over her and hovered what looked like a cell phone over various parts of her body, when it beeped he would draw on her. She assumed he was scanning for the implants.

 

"Alright pup, I found all of them. We can start whenever you're ready"

 

"I'm ready"

 

"Now I'm not sure if the freezing will work with you but we'll try" he prepped a needle with lidocaine and set it aside "Joseph, we are starting!" Jacob shouted toward the kitchen

 

Both Joseph and John emerged from the kitchen, Joseph stood at Jade's head and rubbed her hair and John stood along the other side with his arms crossed as he watched on.

 

At this point Jade was glad she was laying down, the light headedness she felt earlier was evolving into something different, her eyes were becoming heavy, noises sounded further away, her mind felt as though a thick fog had descended upon it. She felt Jacob poke her with a needle and then begin to cut into her- she didn't feel pain, only pressure. She needed to close her eyes, she couldn't stay awake any longer.

 

Jacob looked at Jade's face for any sign of pain, nothing. She had her eyes closed and her body was limp. "Joseph, look at this" Jacob said as he picked up Jade's hand and dropped it, it just flopped back down on the table, he immediately checked her pulse "pulse is normal"

 

Joseph leaned his head over her face "breathing is normal"

 

Faith appeared by Joseph's side and looked Jade over "she looks peaceful"

 

"She fell asleep" Joseph said with a furrowed brow, he was still concerned.

 

"Oh sure, she can sleep while she's laying on a table being cut into but can't in a comfortable bed..." John shook his head.

 

The procedure continued, Jacob successfully removed 5/8 of the implants. After Jacob would finish on one area John would stitch up the open wound so Jacob could move to the next.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
 _Jade woke up in a field, she was human and wearing only the surgical gown. She looked around and saw no one. She stood up, her head was pounding. She squinted her eyes and saw a solitary building of some kind in the distance. Jade stretched and began walking in the direction of the structure._  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

7/8 implants removed and Jade was still limp on the table.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
 _As Jade pressed on she heard movement in the tall grass behind her, she quickly turned around and saw nothing. stupid wind. When she turned to continue walking toward the building a man covered in blood stood before her. Jade's eyes widened and she took a few steps back, but as she looked closer at the man her heart sank._

_"D-Dad?"_

_"Jade, you've grown" the man said flatly_

_"Y-You're dead... What is this?" she stuttered as she starting backing away_

_"Yes I am dead- torn apart by my own flesh and blood." his face twisted in anger "I've raised many pups in my lifetime Jade, but you... you turned on your own kind. The disloyal get put down!" He reared back and fell forward beginning to phase._  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

8/8 implants removed, John was stitching up the last wound when Jade loosed a loud whelp and jerked her whole body before going limp again.

 

"What was that?!" John yelled

 

Joseph and Jacob had also been startled and now just looked at Jade not knowing how to precede.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
 _"It was an accident! I didn't mean to!" Jade cried out but it was too late, her father was phasing rapidly._  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jade growled and her limp body began twitching as her phase began

 

"I think she's phasing" Jacob said as he watched

 

"I'm not sure she knows she's doing it, we need to secure her." Joseph felt a knot form in his gut

 

"I have a couple of Jacob's big metal cages outside" John said

 

"That'll work. Everyone grab a corner of the tarp." Jacob instructed

 

They were only able to carry her down off the porch before Jade became to heavy as she nearly completed phasing.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
 _Jade had an advantage over her sire, she was able to phase much quicker than him. Once complete, she bolted away from him in the direction of the building._  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Seed's stood on the porch and watched Jade as she finished phasing and stood up.

 

"Jade?" Joseph stepped forward cautiously with his hands low

 

Jade whimpered as she looked off in a daze, light purple smoke (like dry ice) gently billowed down Jade's back. She sniffed at the air then turned to group on the porch.

 

John reached forward and grabbed Joseph by the shoulder to stop him from walking any closer to Jade.

 

Jade's hackles bristled as she stalked toward the humans on the porch, she pinned her ears back and let out a growl.

 

Joseph was able to make brief eye contact with Jade, her beautiful green eyes had changed to a lavender colour and her pupils were dilated. The moment passed in a second as something unseen to them caught Jade's eye and she took off down the driveway.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
 _As Jade arrived at the building it's hazy form became clear- it was her childhood home in Hope County. She stood in horror as blood began to flow out of the front door, down the front steps and onto the sidewalk. In a sudden pop of light purple smoke her dad appeared fully phased in front of her. He jumped at Jade knocking her off balance, she quickly caught herself and lunged back at him. They fought fiercely against one another making their way up to the house and through the blood that continued to spill from the home._  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Oh my..." Faith said as she watched with the others as Jade took off out of view

 

"John, have your men load one of the cages onto a trailer for the truck. I'll go get my laptop so we can track her-" Jacob barked

 

"wait" Joseph interrupted. He slowly pulled his pistol from the holster on his hip and turned. A vein was beginning to bulge on his forehead as he raised his gun to Faith.

 

"Joseph what're-" John tried to take a step forward but Joseph gave him a look of warning.

 

Faith backed against the wall as Joseph walked toward her with his gun raised. "J-Joseph?"

 

"Jade appears to be affected by a variant of the bliss. You wouldn't know anything about that now would you?" Joseph calmly spoke

 

John and Jacob exchanged glances

 

Faith fell to her knees and began to cry "I was just trying to help!"

 

"You think THIS is helping!?" Joseph gestured toward the vacant driveway. He pinched the bridge of his nose. "You will hand over the remainder of whatever you drugged Jade with so we can create an antidote, and you will stay locked in one of John's cells and await my return." he re-holstered his gun and held out his hand to Faith, she swallowed hard and produced a vile of purple powder from her dress pocket and shakily placed it in Joseph's hand. Joseph nodded toward Jacob who grabbed Faith by and arm and pushed her into the house.

 

"John. Prep the truck and give this to your chemists to figure out"

 

John pulled out his radio and began frantically ordering his men around. It wasn't long before an Eden's Gate truck hauling a trailer with one of Jacob's large metal cages tied on the back was idling out front. The brothers climbed in and set off, followed by an Eden's Gate van carrying 6 of John's men. 

 

John drove, Joseph was in the passenger seat and Jacob sat in the back with his laptop. "Guys, she should be just up ahead" Jacob alerted

 

As they came around the bend John was forced to quickly slam on the brakes to avoid hitting Jade. 

 

"HOLY HELL! What's she doing in the middle of the road!!!!" John yelled angrily

 

Jade yelped and fell down with her back on the pavement, she flailed and gnashed her teeth at air, she managed to get her feet back under her, swiped her claws and lept onto and unseen opponent and began biting and clawing fiercely just above the pavement.

 

"What the hell did Faith give her?" John asked without looking away from Jade as she fell onto her back again and cried out loudly.

 

"Whatever it was we have to do something soon, it looks like she's losing to whatever she's fighting. Let try to get some rope on her and see if we can pull her into the cage" Jacob jumped out of the truck and went to prep the cage while John spoke with his men. Joseph remained in the truck and closed his eyes for a moment and prayed, with a final deep breath he stepped out of the vehicle and began to approach Jade.

 

At this point Jade was laying on her side with her back to them, she was breathing heavily in between whimpers. Every so often she'd try to kick or bite at her unseen attacker but her efforts appeared to be in vain.

  
Joseph walked slowly, trying not to catch the attention of his brothers. He was able to make it to Jade's large form and knelt down on one knee behind her head, the purple smoke pooled around his feet. He spoke calmly to her "Jade, you must calm down" He set a hand gently on the top of her head. When he connected with her he felt a pulse of electricity pass from her and she went rigid under his touch.

 

"Joseph!" Jacob yelled from the truck

 

"It's fine Jacob, God will protect me. Bring some rope."

 

Jacob sighed and spoke to John "I wish he'd stop using that as an excuse to put himself in dangerous situations"

 

"We just have to trust him Jacob" John shrugged as he watched Joseph

 

The other men cautiously approached Jade with bunches of rope, Joseph and Jacob slipped the ropes around her wrists and neck.

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_Jade was getting her ass kicked, her father was relentless in his attack. He bit and clawed at Jade, even as she tried to submit- it was no use, he was going to kill her. She lay on the bloodied floor of her childhood home and tried to just keep breathing, her father paced the floor around her, his long claws clicking on the wet tile. 'Just kill me' she thought, her entire body hurt and she was losing will power._

_"Jade... Calm down" a familiar voice spoke, startling her and her father_

_'Joseph?' Jade tried to look around, but her father had come over and stood a weighty paw on her head and growled when she tried to move._

_A sudden jolt of electricity surged from the back of her head and pulsated through her body, her limbs tingled and it began to feel like she was being pulled on._

_Jade panicked and moved quickly away from the sensation, the sudden movement was just enough for her to get out of her fathers reach. She stood tall facing him with her new found strength and let out a menacing roar, her hackles bristled and her tail flicked behind her. She had been on the defensive before, but no more- this wasn't the man she remembered, something was different. Either way, she killed him once, she could do it again._  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jade now stood her full height, hackles up and eyes fixed on something unseen to the group. She roared loudly and the group gripped down on the ropes they held.

 

"Everyone begin pulling toward the cage! Watch yourselves, something's changed!" Jacob barked orders at the group of peggies holding the ropes.

 

Together they all began to pull Jade, as they neared the back of the trailer Jade began to resist the pulling. She came down on all fours and dug her claws down against the pavement and jerked backward.

 

In one fluid motion she sprang forward at the group of 3 peggies pulling on one of the ropes attached to her wrists. She landed on 1 of them- killing her instantly, and bit down on 1 of the men, he shrieked in horror as she bit right through his arm. The remaining man grabbed hold of his stunned comrade and led him back to the van at a run.

 

"Jacob this is too dangerous! Everyone drop the ropes and return to your vehicle" Joseph stepped forward and held firmly the rope that was tied to her other wrist. "I think she may be able hear us. Everyone quiet"

 

"Jade?" he spoke softly

 

Jade dropped the mangled arm from her mouth and perked her ears toward Joseph, still not seeing him.

 

Jacob shot Joseph a worried look

 

"Jade. I'm going to grab your hand and lead you" Joseph lightly tugged on the rope

 

Her eyes widened and she flexed her hand curiously

 

"Good, follow my voice"

 

Joseph began to walk backward slowly and hum amazing grace

 

With unsure steps Jade slowly began to follow

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
 _Jade knew it, she had heard Joseph before. His voice was as beautiful as an angels harp. She had managed to pin her father and was biting down on him, but stopped immediately to look for around for Joseph. She couldn't see him anywhere but felt the sensation in her hand of being pulled, she gladly followed- she would try anything to get away from this madness. She sighed as she heard him humming amazing grace, a sense of security washed over her. Her father got up quickly and began pacing the floor again but Jade no longer cared, and once she ignored him- he stopped, sat down and appeared to also be enjoying Joseph's humming. She went along for a while before she jerked back and hesitated for a moment, Joseph appeared to be leading her straight into a brick wall. His humming persisted and she felt a gentle tug on her wrist when she stopped. She blinked a couple times and outstretched her other hand to the wall, when she met no resistance she cautiously moved forward and walked through the wall._  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

With this new system it wasn't long before Jade was up on the trailer and walking into the  cage. 

 

"You aren't going to be able to move very much for a bit, but you're safe" Joseph spoke calmly as Jacob locked up the cage

 

"John radio ahead for medical attention for Ross" Joseph spoke as they all got into the truck and began making their way back to the ranch.

 

"Already done, Jacob got the bleeding under control while you were dealing with Jade. The doc is waiting for us to return"

 

"Good, what's the status of the antidote for Jade?"

 

"Faith has been very forthcoming with information on the drug, my men should have the antidote ready by tomorrow morning at the latest."

 

Jacob laughed "Joseph almost blew her brains out this morning, of course that rodent's gonna be helpful"

 

Joseph's mood was unreadable, he remained quiet and looked out the window the rest of the way back to the ranch.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love feedback? Are you guys liking how this is progressing?


	30. Chapter 30

Back at the ranch, the trailer was carefully backed into the barn out back. The peggie, Ross, was sent off for medical treatment on his arm that Jade had bitten clean off, the other men returned to their duties around the area. Jacob hopped in his jeep and returned to the Whitetails and John went inside his house to check up on some business, which left Joseph out in the barn with Jade.

 

Joseph took in a deep breath and sighed in relief as he looked over Jade, she was curled up on the metal floor of the cage sleeping, the eerie purple smoke had nearly stopped billowing from her. He was beginning to feel torn, he needed to return to his compound and his flock but leaving Jade was becoming harder each time. He looked over Jade one last time, exited the barn and walked into the house to speak with John.

 

John was leaning against the kitchen counter with a fresh mug of coffee "She alright?" 

 

"Yes actually, she's sleeping"

 

"Good" John took a sip from his mug

 

"There are duties I must attend to at my compound. Jade is not to be let out of that cage until I return. Keep me informed on the status of the antidote for Jade, though I'm not sure we are going to need it this time- she is already showing signs of improvement."

 

"Of course. What about Faith?"

 

"She will likely need to atone." Joseph sighed and placed his hands on his hips "We will begin the process this week."

 

"Yes Joseph"

 

Joseph brought John's forehead to his own "Thank you John" then turned and left.

 

Every couple of hours John would go out to the barn and check on Jade until 11 pm when he just brought out a fold up chair and a blanket.

 

 

The evening was long for Joseph. He had to check in on the man who's arm Jade had bitten off, Ross, he had been successfully operated on and was now in recovery. He had to inform the family of the loss of the woman who Jade had jumped on accidentally. Then an 8 pm service.

 

Joseph was dragging his feet by the time he walked through the door to his little cabin, he lazily kicked off his boots and stripped off his shirt as he walked to the bedroom. He let his hair down, set his bible and aviators on his dresser and slipped out of his jeans. He stretched and ran a hand down over his chest, down his abdomen and traced the scars that covered him. He groaned lightly when he began to trace the ' _lust_ ' scar as he sat down in the chair in the corner of the room, he leaned back into the chair and let his head rest on the back while he lazily palmed himself through his boxers. He hardened quickly and precum was beginning to leak through his boxers, it had been some time since Joseph had indulged himself, he stuck his hand in his boxers and loosely gripped his cock. He thought of Jade kneeling in front of him wearing that collar John had put on her, stroking his cock lightly before bringing her lips to the tip, her warm, wet tongue coming out and gently lapping up his precum. Joseph was already so hard that he began to ache, he jerked his cock faster as he imagined Jade now taking him into her mouth and start sucking while her tongue teased along the underside, she worked her way to the tip and off with a juicy pop and a mischievous smile "Mmmm Jade" he growled "Don't tease me" Joseph bucked into his hand and imagined himself standing while holding Jade's collar and fucking her mouth until she clawed at his thighs for air. He imagined hauling her up to her feet and pressing her firmly against the wall, entering her roughly then slowly fucking her until she begged for him. He pictured firmly grasping her tail in one hand to hold her in place as he reached around and mercilessly attacked her clit with his fingers until she came- her walls clamping down on him, cumming on his cock while yelling his name. Joseph closed his eyes and let his head fell back as came with a loud moan. He shot spurts of hot cum up his abdomen, his body vibrated with the aftershocks of his pent up orgasm. He sat until he regained his composure, sighed lightly, took a shower and went to bed.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

It was extremely dark when Jade's consciousness returned, she squinted and rubbed her eyes and forehead, she had quite the headache.... Fur? she was in her wolf form. Where ever she was laying it was cold, and hard... metal? She sniffed the air- grass, water. Waaaaaater..... she became suddenly aware that her throat was dry as a bone, the inside of her mouth felt sticky. Something else was in the air, John's cologne, she'd know that smell anywhere. She sat up slowly before getting onto all fours, she tried to take a step but bumped her nose against something in front of her, when she tried to stand her head bumped something too. She reached out all around her and felt metal bars and a roof. Instantly she began to panic and pull the bars apart but it was no use, they were solid and she was weak from her fight. Her fight!! The memories came flooding back to her, was she still in danger? She frantically felt around the cage and managed to find the door, she slammed against it hard with her shoulder, which in turn loudly rocked the entire structure she was trapped on.

 

"Jade?" came a groggy voice from the dark before a flashlight was flipped on.

 

The beam of light was like stab in the brain, she quickly closed her eyes and wrinkled her snout. She brought a hand up to her now pounding head.

 

"Ah, sorry." the beam of light was shut off and replaced with the soft glow of a lantern. 

 

When Jade was able to open her eyes she squinted and saw John, he was wrapped in a blanket sitting in a fold up camping chair. He stood up with the blanket and walked closer to the cage. "You aren't oozing purple smoke anymore....Can you see or hear me? How many fingers am I holding up?" He held up his hand with 3 fingers raised.

 

Jade squinted and flipped him off

 

John laughed "Well I'm glad you haven't lost your sense of humor. Are you able to phase back?"

 

Oh right, Jade fell to her knees and lurched forward as her phase began and it wasn't long before she was human again.

 

John had a devious smile on his face

 

"What's wrong with your face?" Jade mumbled when she saw him looking at her.

 

"I don't often have attractive naked women locked in a cage to look at" his eyes roamed her naked form "Keep up with that attitude and I won't give you anything to cover up with."

 

Jade rolled her eyes "Just shut up and let me out of here"

 

"Nope. Joseph said I can't let you out until he checks on you."

 

"Can't you just lock me back in before he gets here?"

 

John smiled and looked down "You were out of your mind not 8 hours ago. He wants to be sure it's out of your system. I'm sure you have questions, as do we, but we wait for Joseph."

 

Jade huffed dramatically and sat back against the cold bars of the cage. She crossed her arms over her chest and wished her tail was long enough to wrap around and hide her crotch. "Can I at least have some water and some pain meds, feels like my skull is being cracked in half"

 

"Water only my dear, how about a back rub?"

 

Jade groaned "fine, anything to try to get rid of this migraine"

 

John climbed up on the trailer and approached the side of the cage that Jade was leaning on. He handed her a fresh bottle of water as well as the blanket that was draped over his shoulders.

Jade thanked him and wrapped the blanket around herself "mmm still warm" She wrinkled her nose "though it has your smell all over it..." she secretly enjoyed that it smelled so strongly of John- it was so nice to be back to something so familiar, rather than that wretched dream world.

 

"Aaaaand what's wrong with my smell?" John crossed his arms "You've lived in my house for months and never complained-"

 

"It's not bad, it's just strong" She reassured as she opened the bottle of water and sucked back the entire thing then gasped loudly for air.

 

"Ahhh classy, you do know we have plenty of water right?" John sat down and stuck his hands through the bars and gently touched Jade, her skin was cool to the touch and she flinched when he made contact. He stayed still for a moment before slowly starting to massage Jade's bare shoulders and neck.

 

Jade sighed contently as John worked the tight muscles along the base of her neck. 

 

"When is Joseph supposed to get here?" Jade asked with her eyes closed

 

"He didn't say, afternoon probably"

 

"What time is it now?"

 

John stopped rubbing Jade's back with one hand to look at his watch "Almost 5:30am"

 

Jade groaned and rested her head on her knees

 

"Is that your way of asking if I can radio him and find out?"

 

Jade flopped onto her side, curled up into a ball and pulled the blanket over her head

 

John stood up and stretched, hopped off the trailer and went over to his camping chair where his radio was hung.

 

"Joseph are you there?"

 

"John, is everything ok?"

 

"Yes everything is fine, Jade is fine, she seems fully aware, she's even phased back"

 

"Excellent"

 

"She's got a migraine though, can I give her anything?"

 

"Hmm. Not until I examine her myself. You can give her bread and water"

 

Jade groaned

 

"she would like to know when you planned on being here?"

 

"I have a sermon at 6:30 am, I will be there after that"

 

"We'll be here"

 

The radio channel went quiet

 

"Try and go back to sleep, I'll turn off the lantern for your headache"

 

"Can you leave it on?" Jade asked shyly from under the blanket

 

John walked over to the cage and gently lifted the blanket from off her head and looked at her "The canister is almost out of fuel, it'll be light out soon"

 

"Oh ok..." she looked down nervously at metal floor

 

"What's the matter Jade?"

 

Jade bit at her lip before speaking "I-I'm scared that I'll wake up back in that place..." 

 

John heart hurt for her. "What if I let the lantern burn out and stay here to hold your hand?" he got up onto the trailer, sat beside the cage and reached his hand through to her.

 

She hesitated for a moment before scooting herself over and taking his large warm hand.

 

"You should know that I'm doing this at great personal risk..." he smiled "I saw what you did to that other guy's arm"

 

Jade furrowed her eyebrows in confusion

 

"bit it clean off just below the elbow"

 

"Did he live?" She scrunched up her face anticipating the worst

 

"Yeah he's fine"

 

"Remind me to bring him some flowers...."

 

John laughed "I will be sure to. Now get some sleep"

 

 


End file.
